The Devil's Justice
by Xenophobic Creeper
Summary: Matt Murdock's life has never been an easy one. Blindness, poverty and lost loved ones have plagued him since his youth. Yet he is determined to save the people of Hell's Kitchen, regardless of the toll it takes on him. Find out how a blind teenager becomes one of the world's greatest heroes in "The Devil's Justice." (Matt joins the team by chapter 9)
1. Chapter 1

**A Summer in Hell's Kitchen:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, 12th August 2001,**

Summertime in the Manhattan neighbourhood of Hell's Kitchen. The days are bright, hot and full of mischief. The nights are cool and restless, with the hum of the city calling below to this boy.

Matt Murdock.

Soon mom and dad will call for him and Matt will toss under the covers and stare at the night sky. And wait for dawn.

For more mischief.

"C'mon Matt, hurry up! " exclaimed an excited 12-year-old boy. "Hey Mark, wait up!" cried out Matt, as he ran through the streets of Hell's Kitchen.

Matt is a 7-year old boy. He has a head of red hair like his father and his mother's deep blue eyes. He was short for a boy his age and was skinny to boot.

It's summer in the Kitchen and like every year, the kids in the neighbourhood cause havoc in the streets. Everyone is running around organizing baseball card tournaments, playing soccer, riding bikes in other people's properties and pranking the local cops. "Dude, this was like your idea. Don't make me come over there and carry you to Mr. Cranshaw's place!" cried out Mark, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Matt said, rolling his eyes.

Matt then took a sharp left and vaulted over some fences blocking the path.

"Show off," Mark said under his breath.

It took Mark another 10 minutes to reach their agreed rendezvous point, (whatever that meant) and Matt was already there, sticking his tongue out at the older boy.

"How can you be so old and so slow at the same time?" Matt asked facetiously.

"Oh shut up, I'm here, aren't I?" Mark said in response.

Mark was a 12-year-old boy with dark, caramel-brown skin, a head of black and curly hair and was well built for a boy his age. "Anyway, what's this big plan of yours anyhow? I have boxing lesson at 6." He asked impatiently.

"Alright, I go inside and act all adorable. You get the PlayStation from that display case thingy and we sell it for loads of cash!" Matt said with great enthusiasm.

"That's it?" asked Mark incredulously.

"Um, yeah?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?", Mark asked Matt as he playfully rustled his hoodie's pocket. "Oh yeah, forgot about that," Matt said taking the item in question from Mark's hand, causing the older boy to roll his eyes. "Wish me luck", Matt said with a gleeful smile.

"Yeah, give me the signal and I'll get out of there," Mark said not realizing that Matt had already gone. "We are going to be in so much trouble", Mark said under his breath. He started looking around to make sure no one was looking. When he felt the coast was clear he started pacing slowly towards Matt. Matt knew the shop owner, Mr. Cranshaw since he was little. OK, littler. He was a cranky old man with a gimpy leg. His dad told him it was because he fought in some war and he stepped on an old landmine and we should be nice to him because of it.

Matt never really understood how fighting in a war makes it alright to be mean to your customers and swindle their cash. After his service ended the only work Mr. Cranshaw could get was as an electrician, but he apparently saw the potential in selling old games and consoles to kids and decided to pursue that instead. 'We'll pay him the money for the PlayStation eventually,' thought Matt as he entered the store. The smell of stale cigarettes and cheap cologne greeted his nostrils the moment the door swung open.

'Alright Matty, show time.'

Matt saw that Mr. Cranshaw was sleeping at the register and took out the precious cargo he got from Mark. A whole slice of garlic and a red paintball! Rubbing garlic in your hands covers them in garlic juices and garlic juice rubbed in your eyes equals super realistic tears. Matt then slammed the paintball against his cheek, making the paint trickle down his face.

'Ok, breath in and out, in and out, in and out,' Matt chanted in his head as he scrunched up his face as much as possible. He slowly walks towards the old veteran and starts screaming. "MR. CRANSHAW, MR. CRANSHAW!" The old man gasped in shock and looks around the shop until he spotted Matt.

"Good God, boy, what the devil happened to your face?" he demanded as the shock in his eyes turned into concern.

"Those boys out there were throwing stones at your shop," Matt said sobbing as he pointed to a group of teenagers on the other side of the street. "I told them to stop but they... but they..." Matt stuttered rubbing his eyes even more with the garlic juice, causing him to tear up more.

"Alright, alright. Stop your sniveling boy." the old man says, reaching for his prosthetic limb. "Are you gonna talk to them?" Matt asks impatiently. "Yeah, give me a minute kid," he said struggling to put the artificial limb on.

By the time he put the thing on the boys outside started to shift. "Oh no you don't," Cranshaw said, increasing his pace as he followed the boys. "Finally," Mark says as he enters the shop looking for the display case at the front of the store. "Remind me why you can't take the stupid thing yourself?"

"It's on the top shelf," Matt says, still teary-eyed from the garlic.

"I hate you sometimes man." He says as he takes the display off the shelf.

"Yeah whatever, can we leave now?" Matt asks as he wipes his hands on his shirt.

"Yeah, sure," Mark said as he secures the gaming console in his backpack. As the two boys turn to leave they hear the sounds of police sirens. They run the opposite direction of the sirens but stopped as they saw the outline of an officer in the distance. "What the hell are you two boys doing?" the officer asks as he walks towards them.

"We just bought a play station!" Matt quickly responded.

"Yeah, we just wanted to go home and play it," Mark added.

"I think I'll take it from here officer Boles." a kind voice said from behind the boys. The officer in question looks at the boys and simply nods in confirmation and goes back to his squad car. "I think you boys owe Mr. Cranshaw an apology,"

"Yes, dad." Both boys replied in unison.

"Yes, sir, I understand," Jack Murdock replied with a strained voice over the phone. The two brothers waiting in the adjacent room in the corner.

The Murdock household was nothing to boast about. An apartment of three rooms (four if you counted the bathroom) with two bedrooms and a combined hall and kitchen. Jack and his wife Miranda shared the largest bedroom. Their walls were adorned with pictures of Jack in the heyday of his boxing career, back when he had the title of "Battlin' Jack Murdock", Miranda's Law degree and of course pictures of the children.

The boys both shared one room and were currently sleeping on a bunk-bed.

Matt and Mark always fought over who would get the top. Sometimes they'd bet on who'd win the next Jets game or play a game of rock, paper, scissors. Other times they'd wrestle for it, with Mark usually securing a win. Their mom would usually break up any fights that got out of hand and would dole out a random punishment. Sometimes they'd be forced to do a paper round at 5 in the morning, and one Halloween they were forced to give all their chocolate to the neighbor's stupid daughters. For a couple of kids, that's , however, both brothers couldn't care less who got the top bunk since it wasn't mom that was dishing out punishment. It was ''Battlin' Jack Murdock''.

"Thank you, sir," Jack said as he cut the call, wiping his brow and sighing quite audibly afterward.

Jack Murdock was a tall man, 6 foot 3 inches in height and quite fit his age.

Jack entered the bedroom with a stern expression on his face. "That was my Sargent on the phone," he told the boys with deep and booming voice. "I've managed to pull a few strings and offered Mr. Cranshaw a full reimbursement for any damages caused."

"We were gonna give it back," Matt said in a quiet tone.

"You're lucky that I convinced Mr. Cranshaw not to press any charges." Jack continued ignoring Matt. "Disappointment can't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now." Jack spent a solid minute in silence before speaking again. "Tell me," Jack said in a softer tone, "Whose idea was it?"

Both boys were looking straight at the floor, not daring to look up. Jack paid attention to them both regardless. Men tend to be a lot less skilled at lying compared to women, little boys even more so. Both boys displayed the obvious signs, a refusal to look directly at someone, fidgeting, twitching faces. All normal considering the circumstances.

But what betrayed people usually were the eyes and Matt's were bolting around like The Flash.

Jack glared at Matt, "Matty." Matt clenched the sheets of his bed and refused to look up. "Look at me, Matty," he said, spacing his words out for dramatic effect. Matt slowly looked up at his father to see not a face of fear or of anger but something much worse; a face filled with disappointment. "Dad," Matt began but stopped before he could finish the sentence.

"I don't want to hear it," Jack said.

"And you should be the one setting the example Mark, not enabling him to steal of all things."

"I know dad," Mark replied not even bothering with an apology knowing it to be a futile gesture. "Well, I know that another speech isn't going to do any of us any good, and since I know for a fact your mother's punishments do nothing for your long-term behavior, I decided to dole out the punishment myself." "Mark, you're banned from boxing lessons for the entire summer."

"What? DAD!"

"And Matt, I've asked Mrs. Decker to give you piano lessons again."

"No way dad, I hate playing that stupid thing."

"I'm not done yet. The both of you are going back to Sunday school. At least the Church oughta knock some sense into you two."

"DAD!" Both boys cried out in unison.

"AND, the two of you will work at Mr. Cranshaws three days a week."

Both boys looked at their father in horror.

"For the rest of the summer."

"No way dad!" Mark replied. "That is so not fair!" Matt added.

"FOR. THE. REST. OF. THE. SUMMER." Jack said, pausing between every word so that the message would sink in. "The two of you start tomorrow."

Jack left their room and entered his own. He laid down on his bed and looked at his clock. '7:30,' it said. His wife was on a company retreat, she was always much better at making the kids listen to reason. She was a lawyer, after all, she's good with words.

The boys were laying in bed, Matt had climbed to the top as soon as their father left.

"I hate you so much right now," Mark said. Matt simply laid in silence. Trying to ignore the events of the day and get to sleep. He'd find a way out of this. He always did.

"Well don't stop now, put your backs into it, that floor ain't gonna sweep itself." Mr. Cranshaw instructed the boys as he laid back in his chair, puffing on his fifth cigarette of the morning.

"But we've been at this all day!" Mark whined as he whipped the sweat off his brow for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Yeah, and we aren't even getting paid for this!" Matt added.

"Well a little manual labor never hurt anyone," Mr. Cranshaw stated gleefully as he started to read his newspaper, which Matt had to ride a block away in order to buy since the one delivered to Cranshaw's place, "didn't have any crosswords in it," apparently.

Matt started to smile.

"What is it boy?"

"Actually, you're sort of wrong there," Matt said with a smug grin."What in God's name are you talking about?" Mr. Cranshaw inquired.

"Well, according to child labor laws in the state of New York, you're only permitted to allow minors to work 8 hours per day, assuming are over 14. And well we aren't exactly 14 yet."

"Now, wait a minute", Mr. Cranshaw started.

"Also, since we aren't getting paid or working for a family business and you've been smoking right next to a couple of kids you could get into loads of trouble if we complained to the proper authorities." Matt said, his grin never faltering the whole time, with Mark struggling to hold in a laugh.

"You've got some nerve kid.", Mr. Cranshaw said with a stern look on his face. "I can't deal with this right now. I need a drink.", Cranshaw got up to leave and put on his leg, he started to cross the road when both boys started to laugh.

"Oh my God dude. where did you learn that stuff?" Mark asked with great surprise. "I snuck into Mom and Dad's room when you all fell asleep and borrowed some of mom's old law books. I didn't understand half of it but I learned a lot about labor laws and stuff." Matt said still grinning the whole time.

"You read all of that in one night?", Mark asked.

"Yeah, why'd you think I fell asleep on Cranshaw's door after washing it?"

"Man, if I had half your brains I'd get like straight A's in school." "Aren't you like the teacher's pet anyway?" Matt asked.

"Hey, I'm not... Wait, look over there", Mark said pointing towards the middle of the road.

Matt's eyes followed his finger and saw what he was pointing to. It was Mr. Cranshaw, limping in the middle of the street. "Why's he walking like that?" Matt asked. "Not sure. Wait look, his fake leg. It's coming off".Mr. Cranshaw's brace that kept his prosthetic attached to his stump was loose and he was struggling to keep upright, let alone walk. "Should we help him?" Matt asked.

"Remember when you tried helping him this morning putting the stupid thing on?"

"Yeah."

"Remember what he said?"

"If I can pilot a helicopter I can put on a damned leg," Matt repeated with a raspy voice, trying to mock the old veteran. Mark then pointed out that after that stint with the labor laws, which may or may not even be valid in this scenario, Matt'd be the last person Cranshaw would want help from. Matt told his step-brother he'd wait at the sidewalk in case he fell.

"Whatever man," was all Mark said in response as he entered the shop again.

Matt was about to shout out to Cranshaw when he saw something enter the corner of his eye.

A truck, heading straight for Mr. Cranshaw.

"MR. CRANSHAW!" Matt screamed as he ran across the road to reach the old man.

Without thinking, Matt pushed Mr. Cranshaw away from the middle of the road. As this happened the truck driver, noticing what was happening started turning the large vehicle towards the right, away from both Matt and Mr. Cranshaw, crashing into a nearby lamppost.

As he crashed the back doors of the van broke wide open and the contents of the truck, barrels rolled straight towards Matt. The young boy crouched down in fear as the contents of the barrel leaked out as the barrels rolled near him. As they came towards him one of their lids came off.

Matt looked towards the direction of the now open barrel to see if it was safe to stand.

It was the last thing he ever saw.

The chemicals in the barrel sprayed over Matt's face.

"AARGGGHHH!", Matt let out a loud scream and reflexively put his hands over his eyes.

Matt was writhing on the floor, still screaming.

"Matt? MATT?" Mark cried out, leaving the shop to see what the commotion is about.

"Oh no." Mark said as he ran towards his foster brother, who was still helplessly squirming on the road in agony.

"Mark? MARK?"

"Yeah, I'm here dude!"

"I can't see, Mark... Mark, I can't see! Mark!"

Mark looked around to see the barrels. They had a radioactivity symbol plastered on them. "It's alright, keep your eyes shut Matt. Someone call 911!" Mark cried, holding his brother in his arms.

Matt couldn't hear any of it. He began to feel light headed.

Soon, he couldn't feel anything at all.

 **So, this is my first attempt at fanfiction. I've laid out a story for the year prior to Matt meeting the team. I decided that since Matt was born in the DC universe this time around, I would make some changes to the origin story. Just so that I wouldn't be too limited by the source material.**

 **Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hell on Earth:**

His blood burns.

He can feel the chemicals coursing through his veins. Everything hurts.

Everything hurts.

He has no idea where he is. He can feel sandpaper scrape his skin every time he moves. Wait, not sandpaper. Sheets, linen sheets. He can smell some chemicals- disinfectants maybe?

He's in a hospital! Matt can hear people come and go, smelling like tub fulls of soap water and bleach. The room he's in smells like half-eaten food, sausages, half-digested eggs.

They stab him with needles and probe his face. They think he can't feel what they are doing to him, but he feels everything around him.

He knows they cut his still hurts.

All he wants is to die.

But he didn't. So he had to make do.

* * *

 **Hells Kitchen, New York, February 19th, 2002:**

It's been six months since Matt lost his sight.

Six months since his world turned upside down.

Their Grandma decided to stay with the family till Matt got his bearings. She initially helped Matt with the basic things- getting dressed, walking around the house, homework and such. She even tried buying him a guide dog, but Matt declined saying that "It smells like poop and its fur makes me itch."

Jack Murdock kept himself busy at the precinct, always buying a box of jasmine tea from China Town, since it was the only smell Matt could tolerate for long periods of time.

His mother, Miranda, spent the past few months in court, building a case against the company that shipped off their radioactive waste that blinded her son. Under any other circumstance, the case would have been in favor of the company, Lex Corp as it turned out, but since Matt saved Mr. Cranshaw from being run over by a company van the case managed to stretch on for three months.

In that time Miranda gathered crucial evidence against Lex Corp. Their illegal transportation of radioactive waste, the fact that their transportation of said waste wasn't up to government required standards as well as the fact that the waste contained traces of the radioactive mineral kryptonite.

Kryptonite, according to the United Nations must not be transported in any form outside of government-sanctioned air transport, and only in lead containers. Both laws were broken by Lex Corp.

Miranda called in various experts, most notably Ray Palmer, the particle physicist.

She also called Mr. Cranshaw up on the stand. Granted his state of intoxication was used against her on the case, but the driver _had_ ignored two sets of traffic lights.

Needless to say, Lex Corp's lawyers denied responsibility for what they called "A terrible tragedy." and decided to settle with Miranda and her law firm for $5,000,000 and would pay for his medical bills.

Miranda won her first big case and was on her way to be promoted to junior partner.

The money, the family decided would go to a trust fund in Matt's name, only to be used after his 18th birthday.

But Matt didn't want their money, hell at this point he didn't even want his sight back. He just wanted Lex Corp to take responsibility for what happened to him. But they didn't. They just gave him some cash and expected him to just shut up. But Matt didn't feel angry for long.

'At least I got the money.' Matt thought, from what he heard from his mom during the trial, most cases don't even make it to a courtroom, even if the corporation involved was obviously guilty.

He was lucky.

His mom was a lawyer. A really good one, backed by a powerful law firm. Most people in Hell's Kitchen couldn't even afford rent, good food or even clean underwear.

He wondered what it was like for people without his luck.

He wondered if they could even get a lawyer's attention.

He asked his mom about this a few days after the trial and she said, "Well, honey. Most lawyers don't really get to choose what cases they get. Either their boss assigns them one or they just work as a researcher for another lawyer's case. Since they need to win big cases to increase their firm's profits, most of the smaller cases get ignored or get a court appointed lawyer."

Matt didn't think that a court appointed lawyer was such a bad idea but then his mom pointed out that most court appointed lawyers are over worked and barely spend time in their cases.

Matt wondered why guys who break the law like that with their companies never get arrested.

He asked his dad that very question.

"It's not so simple son," his dad started. "Remember how you told me about this kid in your class who bullied another kid for weeks and the only reason he wasn't suspended was cus' his dad was friends with your principle?"

Matt nodded.

"Guys like Lex Luthor are like that kid. He knows the right people and has enough cash to make sure he hires the best lawyers to make sure he gets off scot free. We cops put the bad guys behind bars, lawyers get them out."

"But mom doesn't do that!" Matt replied.

"No Matty, your mom's different."

They stood in silence for a few minutes and Matt left to his room, tapping his cane around, trying not to bump into anything.

* * *

Mark took Matt's accident the worst.

He blamed himself for what happened to his little brother. He spent the first few weeks in the hospital right next to him, refusing to leave his side.

Whenever Matt woke up screaming either due to a nightmare, the pain or hearing things that Mark thought weren't there, his older brother would comfort him. Afterwards, when Matt was allowed home, Mark was the one to help him walk around the house and later around the neighborhood.

Mark used to sneak away after school to Ted Grant's boxing gym.

Ted was the world heavyweight champion for over 10 years. He owned a gym near Hell's Kitchen and Mark has been training there since he was 10.

Mark was slacking for most of the summer after Matt's accident. Ted encouraged he take a few more weeks off but Mark needed a distraction.

Mark was one of the most naturally talented boxers Ted'd ever trained. ' _Kid could make pro easy._ ' he thought. Ted hadn't trained people for the ring in a long time. He taught them how to fight on the streets, in real life situations where the rules didn't apply.

Most people who come to his gym stay for a couple weeks and leave, but not Mark. ' _Boy's 12 and he trains harder than most adults._ ' Ted never gave Mark any special treatment though, last thing a potential prodigy needs is an ego.

Matt always wanted to learn how to fight, he even snuck out at night sometimes and used his dad's old equipment sometimes.

His mom never approved, forcing him to learn something more civilized, like the piano. He was never the best, in fact, he hated it, but he practiced a few minutes every day so his mom would be happy. That way he could sneak out of the room knowing he wouldn't get into trouble if he got caught.

But after he lost his sight he played the piano for at least an hour a day. The music drowned out the constant background noise he heard all the time.

He could hear every cough, sniffle, bark, bell, siren, moan and other noises he would rather not describe.

The piano, just for a precious few minutes drowned all that out, all there was in the whole world at that moment was him and his music.

But it wasn't enough.

He still felt angry.

At himself, the world.

He needed to hit something, really bad.

' _I really shouldn't be doing this._ ' Matt thought to himself. He wore a black hoodie and joggers, at least they felt warm enough to be black.

' _Mom and dad are going to kill me!_ ' he thought as he walked the streets of Hell's Kitchen for the first time unaccompanied.

Everyone was looking at him. Offering him help, giving sympathetic looks.

Matt could feel it. He couldn't explain it but he could almost feel their heads moving through the air.

He could feel a lot of things.

He hated it.

Every smell, sound, and change in temperature or the surface. He was aware of everything but had no idea what the heck he was observing unless he got close.

He couldn't see, but this was pretty close.

He never expected something as simple as walking to be so tough, not because he didn't know where anything was but because he was constantly bombarded by peoples smells, whispers, breathing, footsteps, the music blaring from their headphones.

He'd often lose his bearings and stand still just to find a sense of direction. He decided to just use the heat of the sun to determine where he was, direction-wise at least.

He was trying to follow a specific set of footsteps.

 _Trying_ being the operative word.

He made sure that the shoes that made the footsteps made a distinct noise just to make things slightly easier.

All he had to do was stick a bit of his dad's old boxing tape to the soles of Marks shoes and voila. Now all he had to do was keep track of the scraping of the tape against the pavement and hope to God that the tape sticks to the shoes and that he doesn't get run over by a car when he crosses the street.

 _'Piece of cake,'_ Matt thought facetiously.

Mark entered the old gym, he took in a big breath, allowing his lungs to acclimate to the scent of old shaving cream, boxing tape, and dust. The scent reminds him of his dad's room, minus the dust.

Mark started his usual routine, sets of push-ups, shadow boxing, pull-ups, jump rope, etc.

He moved on to the bag after a half-hour of warming up.

Ted wasn't always at the gym when Mark was around, he'd usually be in his office or outside the back, doing some training himself.

Mark had a routine to follow so it didn't bother him. Ted came around for actual sparring sessions, he wanted to improve Marks speed and general fitness.

Ted is slowly making Mark more and more comfortable with what he calls urban training. Basically using everyday outdoor objects to workout.

He used to do that a lot back in his Justice Society days, but that's neither here nor there.

Mark continued to beat on the bag until he heard a distinct tapping noise behind him.

"Ted?" Mark asked, hoping to God it wasn't who he thought it was.

"Um... Hey bro?" Matt asked tentatively, "Your footwork is a bit off," Matt said, smiling at his attempt at humor.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Mark asks as he approached his brother.

"To box? Or do they teach ballet here too?" Matt replied with a small smirk on his face trying to ease the situation.

"Mom and Dad are gonna be so mad," Mark stated, "How the heck did you get here anyway?" He asked.

"Dude, with the way you smell you'd have to be headless or something not to be able to follow you." Matt said pointing to his brother.

Mark put his hand on his head and sighed, "Why'd you come here anyway?".

"I just wanted to box with you again, like we used to," Matt said quietly.

"Really? That's it? You walked all the way over here, on your own through one of the roughest parts of the Kitchen, to box with me?"

Matt responded by simply nodding his head.

Before Mark responded Matt added, "I just wanna feel normal again, at least for a while. We used to this stuff all the time, sneaking out and fighting and stuff. Please, just this once, I won't even tell Mom or Dad about it!" Matt said holding back tears.

"Alright," Mark said as he started to guide Matt towards an old boxing bag.

"Really?" Matt asked with excitement.

"You'd probably tell Mom I made you come down here or something if I didn't," Mark said in a semi-sarcastic tone.

"Eh, maybe, maybe not," Matt responded with a smile.

Mark guided his brother towards the bag, made sure his form was adequate and gave him an old sequence of punches that they used to practice to follow.

A half hour past and Matt has never felt better, he could feel his muscles contracting and extending, he was consumed by the sound of seams of the punching bag wearing away slowly, the sound of his own breathing, the scent of the adhesive of his boxing tape being mixed with his own sweat along with the feeling of the air in front of him shifting as he made the bag move forward with every punch.

Granted he didn't make the bag move as much as his foster brother, lacking his training and speed but he finally felt like he could breathe. He wasn't being coddled or treated like a piece of glass, he was just a kid spending time with his brother, doing something he liked and was pretty good at.

Ted Grant usually never let freeloaders enter his gym, uninvited at least. But he couldn't take his eyes off his new guest.

His form was sloppy, to say the least but the way he moved was interesting. It was almost as if he could anticipate the way in which the bag moves and instinctively alters his footwork to compensate for it.

Ted thought it was beginners luck but no, he has consistently been doing so for the past 30 minutes, it'd be a shame if he were to stop.

"Alright, fun's over boys!" Ted bellowed, his voice echoing across the whole gym.

Both boys were startled, with Matt's ears ringing from the foghorn of a voice that belonged to the old boxer.

"You, redhead. What're ya playin' at?" Ted asked Matt, with the young boy not knowing whether the question was rhetorical or not.

"Umm...well, um, sir, it's like..." Matt stuttered out.

"Those gloves of yours are way too big for a kid your size," Ted began as he gave a smaller set of gloves to Mark.

As Mark put the new gloves on Matt, after removing his own. Ted then asked Matt to move into his stance after giving cursory instructions to Mark.

Ted looked at Matt's amateur stance and smirked.

"Alright kid, let's whip you into shape."

* * *

For the next three months, Ted has been training both boys. Mark has been progressing very quickly, the now 13-year-old teenager has been following his training regiment and diet very sincerely and is aiming to compete in a junior boxing tournament uptown in a few weeks.

Matt's ability to read braille and his academics have improved; his training, on the other hand, was hit or miss.

On the one hand, his form and striking speed have improved dramatically. Ted even jogged with him some mornings to boost his confidence being outdoors and to help him move at least somewhat independently without his cane.

But he really couldn't do much else, not due to his blindness, however, much to Ted's surprise but because Matt couldn't tolerate being in crowded area's for too long. Unfortunately, due to the nature of Ted's business and the fact that they lived in New York, encountering a crowd, indoors or outdoors was far too common.

Simple things like an angry driver blasting his horn, the bell ringing in the gym or even something simple as a pair of keys being thrown in his direction can cause him to grab his head and scream in agony.

What's more surprising is that he managed to catch said pair of keys without any problem.

Ted didn't know what to do with the boy. If he continues as he is, he'll barely be able to put a toe outside by the time he's out of middle-school.

Matt needs special help. Not a government source though, he's worked with enough agencies to know what governments can potentially do to a suspected super-human.

"Damn it," Ted whispered under his breath as he removed an old Justice Society communicator from a secret compartment in his office desk. ' _Come on you son of a...'_ Ted started to think as the old communicator started to beep.

"Ah, Wild Cat, been a while. Tell me. Why are you using my father's old communicator?" the man at the end of the line asked as Ted looked at an old picture of 'The Justice Society of America'.

"Kato, I've got something that might interest you."

"What?" Matt and Mark asked in unison.

"I said, this guy's gonna be training redhead over here," Ted stated as he tidied up his gym that morning.

Matt didn't know how to react. He's just gotten used to the gym and Ted's training and now he's shipping him off with someone else.

Mark was quite shocked as well. Not because Ted wanted Matt to train with someone else but because that someone else was a 5'7, skinny old Chinese dude. He didn't look very impressive especially next to Ted who looked like a giant next to him.

"But why this guy?" Mark asked before his brother could.

"Mark, take a look at Kato's eyes for a sec will ya," Ted whispered in his ears.

Mark knew better than to answer back and looked straight into Kato's eyes. They were glazed over.

'He's blind?' Mark mouthed to his teacher.

Ted simply nodded.

"I'm not moving," Matt said incredulously, after focusing on Kato for the past few minutes.

"I told you that it's just for a couple weeks to see how it goes along. Besides you just met the man today."

Matt simply stared at Ted or tried to at least.

"Fine, but I want ice-cream," the 7-year-old demanded.

* * *

Kato and Matt sat on a bench under a tree in central park.

It was a busy morning, fortunately for Matt he was too focused on his melting ice-cream and the mysterious man sitting next to him to notice the stuff happening around him.

"So what kind of training is this?" Matt asked.

"You like ice-cream?" Kato asked.

"Yeah."

"Good, then be quiet and eat it. I'll ask the questions." Kato said in a frank tone. "There is one thing that you must know, no one feels sorry for you and no one ever will. You know why this is?"

Matt shook his head.

"It's because they don't have to. They have their own lives to deal with, their own problems. They'll give you looks and pass comments that make them feel better for caring about someone less privileged than they are." "Besides," Kato continued as Matt licked his ice-cream, "Compared to these people around you, you've won the lottery."

"I did?" Matt asked.

Kato simply replied by placing the base of his cane near Matt's throat. "What was it I said about talking?"

"Shut up?"

"I said be quiet but close enough," Kato stated as he 'looked' around in front of him.

"How old were you when you got blinded?" Kato asked as he moved his head towards Matt's direction.

"Seven," Matt said.

"Seven? You had seven whole years to look at movies and night skies. Many people never had that luxury." Kato stated. "So you were seven years old, walking around with your brother then you get hit by a truck," he paused for effect, "Then you died."

"I didn't die!" Matt exclaimed in confusion.

"You lived? Thank God, it's a miracle. You survive an armored truck driving towards you and then you get some radioactive waste in your eyes, what happened next?" Kato asked.

"I started hearing things."

"What kind of things?"

"Everything. I hear cats meowing, coughs, fights, sirens footsteps, sometimes blocks or miles away. I can feel and sense things, I know when they move and where things are. But I can't see."

"You know what that is?" Kato asked, "That, dear boy, is a gift. A special kind that people spend entire lifetimes to achieve and you, a seven year old, have gained what many highly experienced warriors could not."

"Never thought of it that way." Matt said.

"That is because you are an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot, I'm smart."

Kato almost chuckled at that statement. "You think you are smart simply because you learnt to run your fingers over the bumps and read braille."

"Knowledge comes from books not intelligence. Being smart is making the right decisions at the right time. Such as right now."

"What path are you going to choose? Are you going to cry yourself to sleep every night wishing for someone to hold your hand and make things normal? Or are you going to get up and do what it takes to reshuffle the bad hand life has given you?"

Matt simply tilted his head, signifying his acknowledgement.

"Very well, lets get started."

"How is the ice-cream?" Kato asks.

"Tastes like vanilla,"

"You and every other person in the world can taste vanilla. Empty your mind and use those gifts of yours."

Kato then put the ice-cream near his nose and started to lightly sniff.

"I detect, two varitey of vanilla beans, sugar grains, milk from three separate cows from two states of this country, and," he takes a small lick of ice-cream and recoils in disgust. "Several elements and chemicals that frankly should be part of a kid's science experiment, not their food."

He takes another sniff of the cold desert, "Ah yes, dirt from the hand of the man that served this _divine_ confectionery to us. He probably spent the morning gardening with his cat in the yard."

"How'd you know about the cat?"

"Smell of the dirt," Kato responded frankly.

"There is a whole world around you and it is big and beautiful. All you have to do is calm down and let it in. Don't resist."

A dog and his owner walk past. "What can you tell me about that dog?" Kato asks Matt.

Matt concentrates and turns his head towards the direction of the dog. "He's hungry," Matt stated, "His tummy's growling." He paused for a moment.

"He's dying to eat those hot dogs over there," Matt said pointing his finger towards a nearby hot dog stand.

Kato's lips almost curl into a smile.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Kato stated. "What about the girl over there?" Kato asked, pointing to a young couple around 10 feet away under a tree. Matt spent a few seconds longer to analyse the girl due to her distance. "I think her skin's too hot. Her heart rate's really high, and her breathing's way too shallow. Is she sick?" Matt asked, with concern dripping form his voice.

"Worst. The poor girl's in love. What about that old man on the bench?"

Matt, shifts his attention to the old man, he hears his strained heart beat and his lungs seemingly collapse with every breath.

"He's dying," Matt said with a sense of sadness in his voice.

"And there isn't a damn thing you can do about it." Kato tells Matt.

"Big and beautiful world out there. But beauty does not last, like everything else, it degrades over time. The only way people such as you or I can survive is if we take the world by the throat and refuse to let go."

"If I ask you a question will you hit me?"

"That depends on the nature of the question."

"Did you go blind or were you just born this way?" Matt asks the elderly Chinese man.

"I lost my sight after an accident not unlike your own." Kato said, his serious tone of voice ever so slightly wavering.

"Spent many years in some of the most dangerous places across the globe to learn how to ' _see_ ' again, to fight again, to live again. Lessons I shall provide you, starting today."

"Today?"

"Is there a problem?" Kato asks Matt.

"Nope," Matt answered immediately.

"Then follow me. Keep up, I will not slow down."

Kato walks into one of his places of training in New York. For the purposes of today he has emptied the area completely to teach Matt. The area in question was a large soundproof room, with the walls covered in sound absorbing foam and the floor a hard but an almost equally sound absorbing material.

He wanted Matt to be able to detect things in an environment where his usual method of detecting objects was nullified, his hearing and basic echo-location.

The only thing he could hear in the room was Kato's heart beat and voice.

"I'll hear no complaints boy," Kato instructed Matt as he entered the room, "I will teach you how to master your senses and if you are good enough I shall make you into a true warrior."

"Your chances are slim. You are emotional, undisciplined and self-entitled. But you have potential, it's up to you to harness it.

"Now reach out your hand and concentrate," Kato said in a calm tone. "Feel the air."

"But nothing else is moving other than you," Matt said in annoyance.

"Keep quiet and concentrate. The air is still pushing around you, one wall is closer than the other, feel it." Kato repeated, his tone of voice never wavering.

"But I don't feel anything."

Matt's head then suddenly hurt as something hit him on the head.

"You felt that at least," Kato stated, instructing him to pick up the escrima stick on the floor. Matt crouched onto the floor, using his hands to feel around for the stick. He finally felt the wood in his fingers and grabbed it, leaping right up to face Kato. But he couldn't hear Kato's heart beat, or his breath.

Matt then got hit on his right shoulder.

Then on the back of his head.

"Hey, that hurts!" Matt exclaimed.

He felt another hit on his back. He swings in that direction but hits nothing but air.

Another hit to his shoulder.

"Knock it off!" Matt said in anger striking again, still hitting nothing.

He does so again.

Again.

And again.

Until Matt heard a whisper of something moving in the air.

A shape formed by air.

A stick!

Matt raised his stick upwards and blocked the incoming attack.

"Whoa. How did I do that?" Matt asked in astonishment.

"You have officially graduated kindergarten. Don't get cocky yet, your education has just begun."

Days passed.

Months.

Matt goes to the designated training location of the day.

Kato is inside the room.

Matt has tried to find more information about his new teacher. From what Mark tells him, Ted Grant's and Kato's dad were tight and they were part of some team or society way back when.

' _So I'm either being trained by a super-hero or by some crazy spy. Great,'_ Matt thought sarcastically.

"What do you hear?" Kato asks Matt.

"Creaking of wood, wire... Wait, no, catgut, stretched out. You're holding a bow. What're a couple blind guys gonna do with a bow?"

"This," Kato said, shooting three arrows straight into a the center of a bulls-eye.

"Alright, let's begin."

Kato throws the bow to Matt, with Matt hearing the bow leave his masters hand and feels it falling through the air. Matt catches the bow and notches an arrow.

After a few corrections in Matt's technique in holding the bow, Kato gives the go ahead to fire.

Matt releases the tension from the arrow and lets go. The arrow flies upward, going through a window and embedding itself into a car below.

Kato places his hand over his forehead and simply says, "Again".

Matt fires again and hits the wall this time.

"Again," Kato demands.

Matt fires again.

Again.

Again

And again. Again and again till Matt's knees wobble and red-hot pain streaks from his shoulders to his elbows.

He fires and misses the Target but comes close to the edge of the wooden board the target was placed upon.

He fires yet again.

And again.

His blind eyes water with tears, his lungs fill with the old basements dust making his chest feel like it's on fire.

Until.

 **THUNK.**

"I hit it. Kato, I hit it!" Matt cheered in relief.

"Anyone can hit it once. Again, this time concentrate on your target, feel its shape, it's smell. Focus."

Matt fired again, the arrow coming closer towards the bulls eye. He fires again hitting the bulls eye. Firing again, he shoots an arrow through the previous one.

* * *

Matt practices the kick again, his legs reaching the apex of their arc with his arms stretched out, leaving all his limbs extended in a position similar to that of a butterfly's wings in-flight.

He then threw a series of punches towards Kato, each being parried by the old man. Kato unleashed an onslaught of punches of his own. Matt has never been able to parry or block a punch or kick from Kato. Ignoring the fact that his punches could bend steel and shatter stone if he wanted, his speed was incredible.

To demonstrate his speed he once placed a quarter in the palm of Matt's hand and before Matt could close it Kato managed to take the quarter away from Matt's palm and replace it with a penny.

He also caught a blunt arrow that Matt fired at him (under Kato's instructions) using both hands and threw it back at Matt with enough force to leave a large bruise on his forehead for days.

Matt leaped out of the way and Kato threw Matt two sticks he had on him.

Matt caught them in mid-air and proceeded to crouch down and attack Kato's knees and shins. Kato counters his strikes with a shin kick to the face causing Matt to immediately stand up and back flip several feet away to gain distance from Kato.

As Matt prepared to close the distance and strike again Kato gives a command, "Break." Matt immediately complies.

"What rules the body?" Kato asks

"My mind." Matt replies.

Kato gives a gesture to indicate that he can start the sparring session again. Matt throws one of his sticks at Kato, but it misses and ends up flying over his head. The old martial artist is about to kick in Matt's face when the stick the boy threw ricochets off the adjacent wall and hits his master square at the back of his head.

' _Clever boy._ ' Kato thought.

"Break."

Matt stops.

"What's your greatest weapon?" Kato asks.

"My body."

Kato tells Matt to continue and delivers a knee to Matt's face which he blocks with his remaining stick, but gets caught in a hold by Kato.

Matt's hands instinctively go towards his throat to see if he can loosen Kato's grip. He couldn't, and seeing no other option he opts for the only move he has available, he bits Kato's hand.

Kato loosens his grip in pain and Matt does a flip and uses it's momentum to get out of the stronger fighters grip.

"How do we fight?"

"We're formless, unpredictable and shapeless, like water."

"What do our enemies control?"

"They'll control nothing but a hospital bed by the time we're through with them."

"Stop." Kato instructed as he took the remaining stick from Matt's hand.

"You've learned to harness your body as a weapon. You're skilled with many weapons. But fighting is just the start. First you have to learn how to harness your emotions. You're emotions deep down within."

"How do I do that?" Matt asks half thinking it was going to be some sort of DIY brain surgery or something.

"By meditating."

"That thing you do where you try not to sleep?" Matt chided.

"Yes, that's it," Kato said through a chuckle.

Matt's noticed that Kato's gotten a bit more light hearted. His training regiments are still brutal, and he's probably sustained more bruises on his body and face than there are hairs on his head. But during times like these, when they were just talking he seemed more open, calm and relaxed, maybe even nice if you push it.

Kato finishes packing up the equipment.

"Try it, be open to it and later on you can get stronger, faster, more focused and even compensate for any lack of sleep and can heal your wounds faster," Kato added, trying to peak Matt's interest in the useful practice.

"Seriously, you can do that?" Matt asked with a sense of disbelief.

"How is it you think me and Ted have lived so long?" Kato asks in response.

"I'll learn how, just like you."

Kato smirks, "Good. Tomorrow we start with basic meditation and then knives. Try not to stab yourself." He said as Matt heads towards the exit. "Alright, see you tomorrow Kato," Matt says as he leaves the old, crumbling building.

* * *

Night after night Jack and Miranda Murdock find their sons asleep, exhausted, with Matt always sleeping alongside his books.

Both parents think that their little boy is studying like a demon.

They're right of course.

But Matt's studies go beyond law, history and geography. They go into a realm, in Matt's eyes at least of near magic.

* * *

 **This is the second chapter. Don't worry, Matt will wear the mask next chapter, don't worry.**

 **Using Kato instead of Stick was an attempt to futher integrate the DC universe, and Green Hornet and Kato have had DC crossovers. Also since Kato was played by Bruce Lee, he isn't as crass as Stick.**

 **Anyways, feedback is always appreciated.**

 **Thanks**


	3. Chapter 3

_**The Rise of the Devil:**_

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday** **,** **7 September 2009** :

It's been over seven years since Kato started teaching Matt.

Seven years of relentless training from Kato. Every morning Matt would get up, do his physical training for three hours, go to school and meet Kato after dinner for his martial arts training.

Kato not only taught him how to fight but other things as well. Like how to identify chemicals and poisons, gradual immunity to said poisons, bomb-making and diffusing, escape artistry, lock picking, how to hide in a crowd and many other practices.

Kato tends to disappear every 6 months stating "I have other business to attend to."

Matt just continues and expands upon what he was taught so that when Kato returns he would be ready for the next few lessons, sometimes even refining his grappling and boxing techniques with Mark and Ted Grant.

Matt never enjoyed these lessons. He always thought that the next lesson could never be more painful and every time Kato would prove him wrong. When he was 12 Kato made him spend every night inside of a meat storage device to help him master Tumo meditation. This apparently helps him limit the amount of oxygen he needs to survive, gain complete control of his mind and body, slip himself into a coma and control his own body temperature.

Lucky he was taught that since the first day of his summer vacation Matt woke up in the middle of a freezing cold, snow-filled environment.

Matt had nothing on him but a set of warm clothes and a note stuck to them saying "4 weeks." Matt had to brush his hands over the words multiple times to make sure he didn't misinterpret the message.

He had to survive in a cold wasteland for 4 weeks.

He hated every minute, he peed on himself for warmth. Hugged wet sticks to dry them out. Used his hair as kindling for the fire and even fought a polar bear for a fish near a half-frozen stream. Making him realize he was in the Arctic.

A bear he managed to knock out somehow by punching it repeatedly in the face and burying it under a ton of ice. He has the scars on his chest and shoulder to prove it.

After a month of surviving in these conditions, he woke up to once again find himself in another foreign environment.

* * *

This time a desert.

Matt once again had only clothes and a note with him.

The meditation training proved useful since he managed to regulate the amount he sweated and he never panicked through all of this. In the desert he gained moisture from certain cacti that had drinkable fluids, which he determined through taste and smell, he moved away from any nearby poisonous snakes and lizards by hearing them sift through the ground and he made a tent with nearby leaves and sticks to sleep in.

He eventually encountered a group of Arabic speaking travelers.

From them, he learned that he was in the Sahara desert, which if he remembered right was similar in size to the USA.

They let him stay with them, with Matt helping them move their effects and helping to rear their camels. They taught him some basic Arabic phrases, how to extract water more effectively from some plants and how to navigate using the stars, which Matt managed to interpret based in his position in relation to the north and South Pole. One elderly woman gave him some pointers on how to fight in the sand and with a saber.

By the time they reached the Nile River, near Egypt, Matt helped the travelers fight off a crocodile and a hippo simultaneously. Gaining new scars for the achievement.

All was going well until woke up in a new environment once again, but this time in a jungle.

* * *

After cursing Kato's name in various languages he walked around trying to gain his bearings. He figured out thanks to the rivers and piranhas that he must be in the Amazon rainforest. Matt fashioned a makeshift staff from some branches and stuck to moving around using the trees after a chance encounter with a panther.

Matt cut himself fending off the wild beast and used giant ant heads to stitch himself up.

After another 4 weeks, he woke up in his bed in Hell's Kitchen to the sound of his mother asking him how the training camp with Mr. Grant went.

Matt screamed in his head and after 5 minutes of awkward silence Matt simply responded with "It was alright."

This continued every summer, with Mr. Grant being Matt's alibi for his disappearance. Matt wasn't sure why Mark kept his mouth shut but he was busy as well training to become the heavyweight champion of the country in boxing.

Mark grew to become 6 foot 6 inches tall. He absolutely dwarfed his adopted family, and Matt was pretty sure that the polar bear would be easier to knock out than his foster brother.

But he had other things to be worried about, like the fact that during the summer of his 13th birthday Kato took him to Tibet to learn about the light and dark sides of Taoism. This was to channel his inner peace and rage respectively.

He learned how to exert his body to near-superhuman levels. He learned how to withstand great G-forces by jumping off cliffs and climbing them multiple times, to increase his endurance. He learned how to shatter stone and to some extent bend steel with his punches, though he broke his hands multiple times in the process.

He even learned how to make people think you've disappeared right in front of them. Though he only learned that after realizing a giant crocodile was in the stream behind him.

During the last few weeks of that summer, he visited India with Kato to learn one of if not the oldest martial art Kalarippayattu. He traveled with a band that roamed around the country. He witnessed many beautiful things in India but as well as many tragedies. For every elderly person giving refuge to the poor, he saw dozens more exploiting them, to beg for money.

For every saint that helped people with their problems, there were hundreds of more hustling people of their hard earned money and utilizing their superstitions and beliefs to do so.

He learned many languages and lessons about the human condition. He learned that the law, enforced by a non-corrupt entity, was the only way that defenseless people couldn't be exploited.

* * *

The following summer of his 14th birthday.

This time Kato wasn't training him during the summer but for the first time, Ted was. His brother was making way in the amateur boxing circuit, scoring knockouts every match. He had the hardest punches of any heavyweight in the amateur circuit. Mark was to move onto national level matches. But Ted wanted to improve his speed and technique, as well as Matt's. Ted took Matt and Mark to the lovely city of Paris.

At one point, the two boys were ogling a couple girls, only to have Ted punch them both. "We're here to hone your skills, not get you hooked up with some French girl!"

Later, Ted asked Matt to punch him with all his strength. After much protest Matt complied, launching at him at full speed. Ted just sidestepped his attack and tripped him up.

"There's no point in knowing how to break stone and steel if your opponent knows how to move better than you," Ted said.

Ted then gives Matt and Mark separate exercises to do for the fortnight.

After the 2 weeks, he teaches them some elements of parkour, to enable their bodies to gain the ability and endurance to move without thinking or straining. Ted then enhanced their boxing prowess by implementing elements of muay-thai, 52 blocks, and krav maga.

Matt learned how to move across buildings more efficiently, even outrunning cars on the road and how to use his immense striking force more effectively.

* * *

Mark tried to teach Matt how to drive, despite Matt pointing out his blindness. But after a major traffic accident, they both run away, no in fear of the French cops but in fear of what Ted would do after crashing his rental.

They visited a magician called Zatara after his show in Paris.

Apparently, he's a Justice League member and knew Kato and Ted from their hero days.

From what he could gather using his admittedly now decent French, Kato worked with someone called the Green Hornet. Matt made a mental note to look that up.

* * *

Matt went to China the previous Summer of 2009.

The 14-year-old received training in Shaolin.

He further developed his body to near-superhuman limits and learned many new fighting styles.

He gains further insight into meditation and his inner self, along with some skill in speaking Mandarin and Cantonese. Matt learned some Mandarin and Japanese already from Kato, so it wasn't as much of a pain as learning the other languages.

Matt even shaved his head just for the hell of it, and to fit in a bit more.

But the summer was now over, and now he had to endure the most torturous training of all.

High school.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York,** **Monday, 7 September** **:**

"Alright kid, get up!" Jack Murdock exclaimed trying to wake up his son.

Matt simply groaned and shifted in bed in response, too tired after his morning training.

"Ok Matty, you asked for it," Jack said as he lifted his son off the bed.

"But dad, It's not even a real school day!" he said through a yawn rubbing the sleep from his blind eyes. "It's just the orientation." Jack simply said, "You ain't playing hookie on your first day, besides you shouldn't have been studying that late into the night."

Matt just sighed. _'He still thinks I study every night.'_ Matt wants to be more honest with his dad, and his mom even. He wanted to tell them everything about him and his powers but he couldn't. Kato warned him about too many people knowing what he can do. It can be dangerous.

Matt simply shrugs off these thoughts and gets his cane, pretending to walk around his home with an artificial caution and clumsiness.

Matt, now 14, stood at 5 foot 8 inches tall. He was a lean but muscular teenager, with his hair just starting to grow back after his experiences in Shaolin. He goes to the bathroom, brushes his teeth, showers, and massages his bruises on his ankles from a mistimed leap from a building. Matt goes back to his room and changes into a red t-shirt, jeans, and mismatching yellow socks and his signature sunglasses.

The young teen walks into the kitchen/living room and sits near the dining table. His mother smiles at his son's unwillingness to go to school. "Here you go, hon," Miranda says setting a plate of burnt toast on the table.

Matt fumbled his fingers in front of him to get his hand on the toast, "Any ideas when that new toaster is coming home?" he asked with some hope in his voice. Burnt bread wasn't poisonous or anything but when you could feel every individual burnt layer on the bread with your tongue, it got really annoying.

Miranda shot his son a skeptical look, "It's coming in tomorrow, Why? Don't you like your mom's amazing cooking!" she asked as she put some braille books into her son's bag. Matt held up the bread, "Mom, it's just toast," he simply said, Miranda giving him a sharp look. ' _She's giving me a look, I can tell._ ' He took a big bite of the bread, "You are an amazing mom though!" he said with a full mouth.

Jack Murdock fiddles with his uniforms buttons and as he walks towards his son, "Good save," he whispers into Matt's ear.

Miranda simply rolls her eyes, giving both of them a light slap on the shoulders. "That's enough boys. Matt you better hurry up, the bus arrives in another 10 minutes." Her son nearly chokes on his food. "Wh-whaat?" He asked, swallowing hard he stands up abruptly. "I'm not gonna walk to school on the first day!" He grabs his cane and rushes out the door. Miranda Murdock leans over the table and simply smiles alongside her husband, ''Five, four, three, two, one and-'' Matt runs back into the apartment.

"Forgot my bag, and my shoes," he simply said. His mother reached down for his bag while his father got his shoes. An amusing smile on both their faces.

"Thanks, mom." Matt said placing a kiss on his mom's cheek, "Thanks, dad," he said throwing some light punches his dad's way. "Alright champ, you got me now get a move on," the former boxer said as Matt ran out the door again.

"Well, that boy's got your charm," Miranda stated with a smirk. "And he's got your smarts," Jack replied giving his wife a light kiss on the lips.

"I gotta shuffle too, you're off at 7 right?" Jack asked holstering his pistol and wearing his badge. "Yes hon, now go and be a hero," Miranda stated playfully placing her arms around her husband's neck kissing him one last time.

' _Oh, yuck!_ ' Matt thought as he heard his parents from the bus stop.

Matt then started rubbing his head as a fellow student next to him turned on their phone. 'Damn' he thought to himself. After coming back from the mountains, away from the loud noises and radio waves, Matt realized he developed two extra senses.

A RADAR sense and a seismic sense.

The RADAR sense helps him perceive the outlines of objects near him based on radio waves in the air, even allowing him to find the source of said radio waves. Not exactly like sight but close enough.

The seismic sense works kinda like his hearing and echolocation. With a great impact on the ground like a person stomping or someone hitting a stick on the ground Matt could sense the structure and materials of solid substances, including the presence of caves, material changes, structural weaknesses etc.

But since he was in a city filled with people, vehicles, and structures along with many radio waves, his new abilities along with his other senses give Matt an incredibly accurate 360˚ perspective of the world. 'But I still can't read a normal book or watch TV.' Matt thought sarcastically.

As Matt continued to wait for the bus, he calmed down and let everything in. Every whisper, footstep, breath, heartbeat, scent excrement, mold, fumes. All the nearby radio waves and vibrations from the vehicles vibrating the ground below him. He wanted to get used to the city again. But that came with its own issues.

"Where's my money you slut?", "Hey, that's my bag", "George, please don't…" Matt forgot about this.

The pain of everyone around his city.

The pain that was a constant all the time.

A pain only he could hear.

' _Ignore it Matt._ ' Matt told himself, ' _You're not a cop, you're not a lawyer. Just let the law take care of them._ '

Matt has always wanted to help those he hears. But his dad is a cop. An enforcer of the law and his mom a lawyer. They taught him that the law works, and unlike many places, he's visited Matt knows the law is enforced in America.

Matt hears old rusty creaking, violent coughing and smells stale cigarettes.

"Bus is here," Matt says quietly as the smoker of a driver opens the old, squeaky bus door.

* * *

 **Midtown high,** **Monday, 7 September 2009** **:**

'Well, here we go.' Matt thought as he unfolded his collapsible cane and started tapping it in front of him. The bus driver offered to help him off, but Matt would rather fight another crocodile than take the help of a guy who smells like a Victorian chimney.

Matt was one of only half a dozen people to get into Midtown High. It's a STEM school, meaning that it mainly focuses on Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Luckily, Matt's training with Kato gave him knowledge greater than the scope of any high school entrance exam.

Matt was searching the place for the front desk, or main office. He needed to go there to receive special instructions due to his disability. A couple friends should be taking them over there though. "Where are they?" Matt asked under his breath. Suddenly, the aroma of spices and lintels occupies the corridors, the shuffling of a large bag of books behind the source of that aroma and a calm, soothing voice emerged from said source.

"Hey, Matt!" the voice said with an excited shrill as the owner of the voice embraced Matt in the biggest hug he's ever had in his life.

Matt gave her a smile as wide as a car. "Hey, Lakshmi!" Matt replied hugging her back in return.

"Ouch, dude too hard man, too hard," Lakshmi said as Matt squeezed her too hard. "That's for making me wait for too long," Matt said with a smirk. Lakshmi just responded with a small giggle.

Lakshmi was a 14-year-old girl of Indian descent, she was quite short by American standards, only standing at around 5 foot 3 inches tall. She was quite skinny and has caramel brown skin, long, black hair and blue glasses. She wore a red shirt and blue cardigan with skinny jeans. Her parents moved to New York when she was 7. Like many Indian parents, they made Lakshmi study her ass off in order to perform academically. It was lucky that she was pretty smart as well.

"How was that internship at the IT Company?" Matt asked his friend as he tried making conversation. "Well, to be honest, it was kind of boring actually." She replied. "They just made us look at spreadsheets all day."

"It's not like they were gonna give you a $50 million project or something."

"Yeah, but I learned loads of programming stuff over the summer, I just wanted to use it."

"Please don't tell me you got bored and hacked into their system or something," Matt asked with concern.

Lakshmi just smirked, "Hacking is such a strong term, I just ' _appropriated'_ some information is all."

"Oh, Christ what did you do? Give away their money to some charity?"

"Nope, just placed a custom USB drive into the right computer. Waited a few minutes and presto. I downloaded loads of data. Most of it was boring stuff. But I found the most disgusting thing ever."

"Dick pics?" Matt asked factitiously.

"What? Ew, no." Lakshmi replied sticking her tongue out. "The dude in charge of all the interns was watching porn on the job. And it was caught on the security camera." Lakshmi continued. "So guess what I did."

"I dunno, what?"

"Aw, but you didn't guess."

Matt simply tilted his head and said: "You showed the guy in charge of the project the video."

"Nope, I played that video on all the screens throughout the building," Lakshmi said with a proud smile on her face.

"No way," Matt said, his mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Yep, he got fired like two days later. Serves him right, he didn't even pay his regular workers properly, judging by those other files I got from the drive."

Matt just stared at her for a few moments or tried to anyway. "If you weren't so nice usually, I might think you're some terrorist in the making."

"Maybe the nice thing is all an act!" the young teen responded sarcastically.

"No, it's not."

"It's really not." Both said in unison.

"Where's the Neanderthal?" Matt asked, subtly moving his head to hear around the corridor better.

Outside the campus, the smell of extremely expensive cologne and soap overpowered the scent that came from Lakshmi. The sound of rare leather scraping against Egyptian cotton and the radio waves of a new smartphone outlined the new figure.

"Speak of the devil," Matt says to no one in particular as he braces himself for what was coming next.

"Hey Murdock!" a voice came, bellowing from the start of the corridor.

Matt turned to face the source of the voice and suppressed a grin. ' _Here we go!'_

The figure from the door launched himself at Matt, with Matt not even attempting to move. The figure then gets the blind teen in a headlock and says with battered breath, "I've been working on this all summer Murdock, no way you're getting out of this one!"

Matt simply slips away from the grip by twisting his assailant's wrists and moves to deliver a chop to the neck, stopping mere millimeters away from the intended target.

"Better luck next time Britt," Matt says in a calm manner, letting out the grin he was holding on to.

Britt Reid just backed off and put his hands on his hips. "Dude, whatever training your brother gives you is way too much for a blind guy!" Britt said somewhat sarcastically. "Seeing is overrated. Anyway, you won like 2 kickboxing tournaments this summer right?" Matt responded, his smirk not fading.

"Yeah, but I stick can't get the drop on you. Ever since elementary school. I really need to step up my game." Britt said with unmatched sincerity as if he was pledging allegiance to the flag. "And stop it with that look!" Britt said as he launched himself at Matt again.

Lakshmi just shook her head and rolled her eyes. 'Boys.' She thought incredulously.

Britt was the oldest and the tallest of the trio, standing at 5 foot 10 inches tall, an incredible height for a 15-year-old. He was visibly the biggest of the three due to his height, he was well built due to his martial arts training but not as well toned as Matt. His father, Britt Reid Sr, was the head of the biggest newspaper agency in New York, "The Daily Sentinel." As a result, Britt leads a comfortable lifestyle, with the most expensive fashion and tech a teenager could ask for.

Lakshmi stopped the mental comparison in her head and broke up the 'fight' that was going on. "Come on Britt, we need to get Matt to the receptionist." Lakshmi reminded the young millionaire.

"Please, like the smartest kid in middle school needs extra help," Britt said whilst trying to lift Matt in the air. "Pretty sure I'm not the smartest and besides, I'm also the blindest kid in school." Matt reminded his friend as he poked Britt in the eye.

Lakshmi then proceeded to grab both boys by the ear after going on her toes and proceeded to drag them both to the reception area. ' _I forgot how angry she got,_ ' both boys thought in unison.

* * *

Matt sorted everything out with his caregiver regarding his needs as a blind student, including permission to bring a laptop to school, a braille keyboard, headsets for the laptop, books etc. Matt insisted that the caregiver need not bother herself with giving a tour of the school stating he'd do so with the rest of the freshmen and his friends.

Outside the reception area, Lakshmi was regaling Britt about her exploits at her internship. "And you just showed everyone the porn thing?"

"Well a video of the guy watching porn, yeah." She reiterated.

"And he never paid you, or any of his employees?"

"He didn't give his employees proper wages, no," she repeated.

Britt just whistled, "Wow, what a dick! My dad gives his staff really good compensation and salary and stuff."

Lakshmi gave a sad smile, "Yeah, too bad, not all CEO's are as awesome as your dad."

"Yeah, awesome," Britt repeated coldly, which did not go unnoticed by his friend.

"But what you did was pretty cool," Britt said, changing the conversation back to Lakshmi's story, extending his hand for a high five.

Lakshmi, responded back with her palm, creating a noise that echoed throughout the open-doored reception.

"Did you guys build a bomb or something when I was in there?" Matt asked tapping his cane around.

Before either could reply a crowd of young students approached their general direction. "Guessing those are the other freshman," Britt said.

"Yep," Lakshmi said in confirmation. "Alright Matt let's go," said as Matt held her arm for guidance as he walked around the unfamiliar territory. 'I don't need to hold anyone's arm but ok, this works.' Matt thought to himself.

* * *

The rest of the day consisted of tours of their classrooms, meet and greets with the fellow students (Most of whom made no impression on Matt whatsoever) and meeting school faculty.

All in all, it was an uneventful day, which is until the sound of an old engine came near the school grounds.

An old beat up ford came into the school driveway as the driver rolled down his window. "Hey bro. Schools out remember!" he said.

"Hey, Mark!" Matt said waving his hand.

Matt was about to walk towards his brother till a large group of students ran past him and towards his foster brother. Mark got out of the car standing at his full height of 6 foot 6 inches. He shaved his head and had a goatee on his face. His skin darker than in his youth due to his extensive training outdoors. He was a giant, having muscles that looked like the size of bowling balls. He wore black tracksuits and black sneakers.

Over the years Mark became a local celebrity. Not just due to his boxing prowess but also due to his extensive charity work over the last couple years and for being an incredibly nice guy. Outside the ring anyway.

"Oh my God, I forgot how hot your brother was Matt," Lakshmi blurted out without hesitation.

"Not as hot as your older sister," Britt responded immaturely.

Lakshmi gave what both boys describe as the look. "Hey, it's a compliment," Britt said, trying to justify his statement.

"ANYWAY!" Matt shouted, not wanting this line of conversation to continue. "Mark!" he said, signaling to his brother.

Mark, ignored the screaming fanboys and fangirls, some of whom were teachers and just nodded, smiled, signed their autographs and shook hands. Eventually, the school security got rid of the mob and all who were left in the car park were the trio and Mark

"Sweet ride, man," Britt said sarcastically.

"Don't knock it, man, it's my first ride. She's worked well for the past couple years." Mark responded calmly.

"You know who else worked well the last couple years…." Britt started.

"If what's gonna come out of your mouth is about my girlfriend or my ma, you're going to be taking a ride in an ambulance," Mark said in a pseudo-threatening voice.

"What? No way, I…um….meant Lakshmi!" Britt managed to say, resulting in him getting another punch to the shoulder.

"I was kidding man," Mark said with a soothing smile on his face, making Lakshmi and the nearby girls swoon and making Matt roll his blind eyes. "But seriously, don't dis the car."

"You two off to Franks?" Britt asked the two Murdock brothers.

They simply nod their heads, "Can we come to?"

"We?" Lakshmi said in disbelief.

"Come on Lux, it'll be fun," Britt said. "You remember those chicken wings we had last time?" Britt asked rhetorically. Lakshmi tried to resist the temptation but couldn't stop salivating at the thought of Franks fried chicken.

"Alright, fine. But I need to reach home before 7."

"Yes, alright," Britt said putting his arms around Matt and Lakshmi. "Dinners on me guys."

"Alright, if you say so," Mark said as Britt made his way to the driver's seat. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mark asked the 15-year-old.

"Driving." He said as if it was a matter of fact. "Got my provisional last week. Turned 15 remember?"

"You ain't driving."

"Yes, I am."

"You aren't driving."

"Yes, I am."

"You are not driving."

"Yes, I am."

* * *

"WHY THE HELL DID I LET YOU DRIVE?" Mark shouted out in the passenger seat grabbing the handle above the seat till his knuckles turned white, as Matt and Lakshmi were in the back with Lakshmi putting her head on Matt's shoulder and squeezing Matt's arm out of sheer fear and Matt praying to God that he wouldn't die today. Britt drove in a paradoxically erratic and yet controlled manner. He knew exactly when to turn, overtake and shift gears despite going at insane speeds.

Britt had a wide smile the whole time. "YEAH, WOOO, THIS CAR AIN'T THAT BAD MARK!" Britt shouted out at the top of his lungs.

The young millionaire then took the wheel by one hand and did a J-turn into the parking space near Frank's diner. Britt casually strolled out the car and opened Mark's door. "We are here your highness," Britt said with a mock British accent. At this point, Mark had already broken off the car door handle and was shivering whilst getting out of the car.

"I swear to God. I'll make sure you never get a real license for the rest of your natural born life." Mark said, still shivering. "Which idiot taught you how to drive?"

"My dad did, on our race course near the mansion," Britt said, changing his tone of voice entirely, sounding almost sad. "Anyway," he continued now smiling, "at least you had the balls to get out of the car."

Britt slammed the top of the car where Matt and Lakshmi were sitting. "Hey lovebirds, we're here, get out of the car!"

"Lux?"

"Yeah, Matt?"

"Air!"

Lakshmi blushed as she realized she was crushing his chest with her head and was still gripping his arm. She quickly lets go of Matt and composes herself. _'Jesus, he's built like a rock!_ ' Lakshmi thought to herself as she apologized to Matt profusely.

Matt smiled and said "Nah, it's alright, at least you didn't bite me. Unlike some people." Matt said directing his speech to Britt.

"I did not bite you."

"Yes, you did. On that swinging boat ride at the amusement park. You were so scared that you bit my arm!"

"That was 2 years ago and you screamed like a girl!" Britt replied, crossing his arms and looking away.

"You bit me, of course, I was screaming!"

"Stop acting like 5-year-olds and get inside the shop fools!" Mark said with a deep authoritative voice.

* * *

"You played that shit on ALL the computers?" Mark asked Lakshmi, eating his 3rd side of chicken.

"Yeah, it was great!" Lakshmi said, taking a sip of her handmade milkshake. Britt and Matt were fighting over the last piece of chicken in the bucket. Lakshmi stole the piece from both boys and smiling as she shoved the chicken down her throat, with both boys giving her the middle finger.

"That's nothing," Matt said, trying to defuse their childish squabble. "You wanna hear the crap my brother pulled off in the Olympics last year in Beijing?"

"Nah, Nah Matt, I actually saw what happened Matt so I'll explain." Britt said in a false patronizing tone. Matt just gave a half-assed thumbs up in response.

"Basically, Mark and this Chinese guy were in the finals, right. They both were like matching each other blow for blow." Britt said with the enthusiasm like David Attenborough narrating a documentary. "They both were punching, parrying and dodging. Mark then sees an opening in the Chinese guy's defense and throws a punch."

"Guess what happens next!"

"He knocked him out?" Lakshmi said with her head on her hand.

"Nope, the Chinese guy leaned backward and Mark knocks out the referee behind him!"

Britt, Lakshmi, and Matt start banging on the table and laugh till they went blue. "Wait, wait, wait, that's not the worst part," Matt says, continuing the story.

"The next ref came in and Mark threw a right hook, the ref is standing at the side, right," Matt said, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, and Mark knocks out both the Chinese guy and the ref at the same time!" Britt continued, laughing whilst doing so.

The three continue to laugh, tearing up in the process, with Mark sitting cross-armed with a frown on his face. "Well, I got the Gold Medal didn't I?" Mark said rhetorically. "Dude, you keep it under your sock drawer," Matt said, still breathing heavily after the laughter.

"Yeah, yeah whatever!" Mark said. "Laugh it up kids, laugh it up," Mark said, letting out a chuckle himself.

* * *

Mark hailed both Britt and Lakshmi a cab after everyone finished their meals at Frank's, with Britt giving an extremely generous tip to Frank personally. Matt sending off his friends continued to walk alongside his brother, holding his arm for guidance. "I don't need to hold your arm anymore Mark, I'm not 7 anymore," Matt whined as he dragged his cane along the ground.

"Yeah, but it's late, and it ain't safe at night in the Kitchen Matty, you know that."

"It's 6:30, who's gonna mug us, a middle-aged jogger?"

"Good point, but who knows anymore right?" Mark said, trying to make a comeback.

"Today was a good cheat day!" Mark exclaimed. "Sucks that we have to go back to the old diet tomorrow."

"Yeah, but 10 days from now, I get another cheat day. You have to keep the diet going, for the match next month right?"

"Yeah, I know. Crap!" Mark exclaimed as he rummaged through his pockets. "Must have left my key's inside. Wait here, I'll be back."

"Our house is like a 10-minute walk from here, and what happened to it being dangerous?" Matt asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"Someone tries to mug you, hit them with your stick," Mark responded.

Matt listened to the heavy footsteps of his brother and felt each and every step through the ground. "He's way too big," Matt said to himself.

"Wallet, jewelry, fast", "Where's my goddamn weed, you prick!", "Give, me money man! GIVE ME MY MONEY!".

The cries of the city fill Matt's ears again. No friends or family to distract him.

"Shut up, shut up!" Matt said covering his ears. "Don't get involved Matt. Just wait for …."

He stops. He hears sobbing, he focuses on the source and hears their breathing. The rate of breath indicates that it the person was a child. A young girl. Maybe 4 or 5.

"SssH….Sarahhhh, Saarahh!" A slurred, drunk voice came from the entrance from the girls room. "Daddy?"

"No!" Matt said to himself. "No, that's his daughter. He wouldn't."

"Come herrrre, girrlyy!" he said as he forcefully grabbed his daughter.

"Daddy, you're hurting me!"

Matts face turned pale. His face covered in sweat, his hands gripping his cane so tightly that his knuckles turned as pale as snow as he listened in on the events going on in the girls room. Sarah.

"Sarah." Matt said alongside the father.

Mark just exits Frank's. "I left them in the bathroom Matt. Matt?"

"Sarah!"

"Wait, who's Sarah?"

"We need to talk to dad, get in the car. Quick." Matt said with the utmost urgency.

"Alright, be patient man. Be patient."

* * *

Jack Murdock had a long day of work. His partner got a heart attack in the middle of a shoot-out and was sent to the hospital. He may never serve in the force again. His wife sprained her ankle falling down the stairs and his replacement partner is probably going to be some green nosed rookie barely out of the academy. The last thing he needed to hear was one of his sons accusing a neighbour of assaulting a minor, his own daughter.

"Now are you sure about this?" Jack asked his youngest son for the third time in the manner he would any witness. Calm, collected and professionally. "Yes, Yes and for the thousandth time yes." Matt said irritably. "Go and arrest that piece of trash now!"

"You can't throw accusations around like that. I mean, Mark didn't hear anything after all."

"Dad," Matt said, standing up from his chair, walking towards the older and taller man. "Why would I lie about something like this?"

Jack could not reply.

"You could call child services." Miranda Murdock suggested. "After all, if what our son says is true, they'll call the proper authorities anyway." The matriarch of the family surmised.

"Always the lawyer. Alright Matty, I'll put a word in to a guy I know at child services. Let's see what happens."

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOTHING?" Matt asked at the top of his voice.

It was 1 am in the morning and Jack got a call from his friend at child services. "They found nothing, no trace of blood or semen. No bruising, nothing."

"He works the evening shift patrolling the train tracks, his wife says he's too tired to even stand in the day. She even said that he never touched her or their daughter. She'll testify if need be." Jack further exposited.

"He was drunk dad, I heard him!"

"So was I last week, that's no reason to arrest a man in his home."

"There's no way, I heard what happened. I….I…" Matt said putting his hand over his head, not being able to process what's happening.

"If he's guilty, your father will catch him son." Miranda said, gently holding the teenagers hand. "We just need proof."

Matt 'looked' in the general direction of his parents and says "That's a load of bull!" Without saying another word Matt enters his room and slams the door behind him.

Jack is about to go after him when Miranda gently pulls his arm and shakes her head. "He's going through a lot, just let him rest the night."

Matt walks around his room angrily. He rushes his hand over his head again and again. Mark moved out two years ago so Matt doesn't have to worry about making a mess. Not that he cared right now.

"Arggghh" Matt screams out as he punches his room's wall, leaving a fist sized dent. ' _It's not fair_ ,' Matt thought to himself. ' _It's not fair_ ,' Matt repeated, tearing up now. ' _That bastard can't get away with this. He can't._ '

Matt then heard a familiar set of footsteps in the distance, "I'm leaving, Honey. Put the kid to bed."

It was him.

Anger flashed through Matt's face.

' _You won't get away with it! Never again._ '

* * *

Edward Daniels worked the night shift at the train station. He just patrolled the tracks and made sure that punk kids didn't steal the tracks or dogs shat on them. Frankly, the job was crap. Bad pay, no insurance, but it did have one perk. He could drink till his heart's content on the job and no one would be the wiser.

So what if he took out his anger on his girl sometimes, not like anyone was watching him.

But unbeknownst to him, tonight someone was following him.

A figure dressed in black.

' _Should have worn a different hoodie,_ ' Matt thought to himself, unable to tolerate the shuffling he heard every time he moved faster than a brisk walk. He wore a set of black cargo pants he owned, black skin tight shirt and hoodie, black sneakers and a large black scarf over his head. He taped his hands over with boxing tape and wore some black winter gloves over those.

He was following Mr Daniels for over an hour. He needed to make sure no one would be around to stop him.

Once he knew that Daniels was alone Matt knew he had to strike.

The abusive father stumbled over some train track and fell. "It's time," Matt thought to himself. He started running from the top of the train car he was perched on and jumped towards the fallen drunk.

Unfortunately, Daniels got up the moment Matt leaped and managed to stumble out of the jump attack. Matt cursed under his breath for his rookie mistake and put up a fighting stance. Daniels, not unfamiliar to an occasional brawl threw his bottle at Matt's head.

Hearing it move through the air, Matt bends his head slightly and moves out of the way of the bottle. Matt runs towards Daniels and throws a right hook to his jaw. Daniels staggers but in his drunken state barely feels the pain. He then grabs the much smaller Matt and throws him against the train car.

Matt knees his attacker in the groin and delivers an elbow to his chin, knocking out some teeth and making a sound like cracking concrete. Matt then pushes Daniels up and proceeds to punch him repeatedly in the face till his jaw felt like jelly.

"You touch your daughter again, I'll know." Matt says.

He punches him again.

Again.

And again.

"ARGHHHH", Matt screams at the top of his lungs as his anger takes over, the sound of his fist pounding into beaten flesh echoes through the train cars.

* * *

"So he'll be in hospital for a month." Matt asked, trying to act surprised.

"Yeah, someone apparently mugged him. They really did a number on him." Jack told his son.

Matt just ate his oatmeal in silence as Jack looked towards his wife for help. She simply shrugs. "So, kiddo. How'd you feel about that?"

Matt stops eating, puts down the spoon and gives his father a blank, dead stare as he clenched his fist. "He deserved it."

After school Matt went to various shops and bought a few items.

A few better fitting black cargo pants, the ones he wore the other night were too tight and squeezed him in places he rather not talk about. A couple better fitting black hoodies, cargo boots, since his sneakers fell off after he climbed back through the window. Studded gloves and a couple wooded batons similar to the ones Kato used to train him. All by cash and with different aliases, in case anyone asked. He ditched the cane and claimed he was colour-blind in some shops to confirm the colour.

He had one more stop to make.

* * *

"Bless me father for I have sinned" Matt started his glasses in his hand. "It's been…..well it's been too long since my last confession."

"My dad, he used to come to this church back when I was a kid. He was a fighter, old-school boxer," Matt smiled and chuckled "He lost more than he won, had a 24-32 records before he retired."

A long pause ensued.

"But the man could take a punch. God he could take a punch."

"Language!" The old priest in the booth said sternly.

"Sorry, father."

"Yeah, me and my brother heard the guys he was up against talk about how punching him was like hitting iron. There were nights when he was outmatched, and dad's strategy was to just let the other guy hit him till their hands broke." Matt said with a smile on his face.

"My old man never got knocked out. Not my dad. I mean, he got knocked down sure but he always got back up. Always lost on his feet."

Matt's face changed expression, as he ran his fingers over his knuckles.

"Every now and then though…."

Matt took a deep breath, "Every now and then he'd get hit and something inside of him would snap." Matt remembered how he hit Daniels and put his fingers over his knuckles again.

"My grandma, she was the real Catholic, died a couple years ago. Fear of God ran deep, you'd of liked her father. She used to say ' _Be careful of the Murdock boy. They got the devil in 'em._ '"

"You'd see that sometimes. In the ring." Matt said, his breathing quickening. "His eyes would go dead and he would start walking forward real slow. The look in his eyes made him seem like he wasn't afraid of anything."

"The other guy would see that look and try to run away, but dad he'd um…he'd trap him in a corner and…."

Matt said stuttering, struggling to choose the right words.

"He'd let the devil out." Matt said, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding onto, tearing up slightly.

"I didn't understand it. You know, how a good man like him could feel that, deep inside. I didn't understand it." Matt said on the verge of tears, his breathing laborious.

"Not back then."

The priest takes some time to process this and asks "But you understand him now?" he then follows up, asking "This might be easier if you would tell me what you did."

Matt stays silent, and puts his glasses back on. "Father, I'm not seeking penance for what I've done," Matt tells him with a straight voice, no emotion. "I'm asking forgiveness, for what I am about to do."

The priest turns to him and says "This isn't how that works, son. What exactly are you about to do?"

Matt smiles and leaves the confessional.

' _Deliver justice._ ' He answered in his mind.

* * *

 **So that was the third chapter of "The Devil's Justice".**

 **This was longer than some assignments I've written for school or college. Hope it was to your satisfaction.**

 **I see a couple people have followed my story. I would love it if you would take the time and comment on my story.**

 **The feedback would be immensely helpful to me and the future of the story.**

 **Until then, peace out.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Blood, Sweat and Tears**_ **:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 20th, 2009:**

"Man down, man down" the guard cried out, putting pressure on the wound of his fallen partner.

Sirens blared in the distance, as three masked robbers fled the bank where the violent attack took place. "You didn't have to shoot him, Wilbur!" one robber said in a panic as he was fumbling around with the keys to their escape car.

"They were calling the cops, now stop screwing around and unlock the car" the older thief commanded as he threw the bag of money he had into the open window of the vehicle.

The first thief lets out a sigh of relief as he finally unlocked the car door, allowing him and his comrades to enter and escape. Luckily for the small group, the car starts without a problem and they ride away to their intended hideout.

The sirens came closer as rain now started to pour, clouding the windshield of the car.

"Still got ammo in that gun of yours, Wilbur?" the third thief as he placed a clip in his rifle. "Don't need to ask," Wilbur replied as he shot at the source of the sirens, a police car. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the hood of the car rang throughout the streets as the car swerved through oncoming traffic.

"Sir? You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Relax rookie, we've got them," the older cop replied. "You better be right Mr. Murdock!" his young partner replied, his breath ragged and his hand over his pistol. "You ain't in Afghanistan anymore Blake, can't open fire with civvies on the road." Jack was interrupted by further gunfire from the thieves. "Yeah, but they can!" Officer Blake replied.

' _He's calmer than I was on my first chase,_ ' Jack thought to himself, as sweat dripped from his brow, still dodging traffic. ' _Heart of a soldier, this one_.'

The thief driving the car sees a red light. "Hope you guys fastened your seatbelts, this is gonna get messy," he said in a matter of fact tone. The young thief drives forward at full speed and suddenly applies the breaks and turns despite the heavy traffic coming from the intersection. He rides along the traffic as his two partners in the back cheer for joy.

"HOLD ON BLAKE!" Jack Murdock shouted at his young partner as he braked, tires screeching like nails on a chalkboard. Both officers take the time to catch their breaths, with Blake throwing his hands towards his forehead.

"DAMN! That was too close," the young officer cried out.

"THAT WAS TOO CLOSE KID!" Wilbur shouted as his changed clips for his rifle. The young driver just chuckled "I got us away from the cops, right? Relax, ya old bastard. We're in the clear."

BANG! The sound of a tire bursting, echoed across the empty street they drove down, making the ears of thieves ring. "The hell was that? We got a flat now?" the third thief asked the others.

"Not sure, I'll slow down a bit just to be sure," the youngest member of the three stated as he gently applied the brakes, providing a subtle change in the sound of the engine.

A shadow loomed over the hood of the car, getting darker, wider and closer.

"What the-" the sentence was interrupted by the visage of someone dressed in black, landing on the now dented hood.

"Get down kid!" was all Wilbur said to the driver as he open fired at the windshield, the black figure contorting his head and dodging the bullets.

"Oh no, no way, no way," the driver said as he swerved the car around in a panic, unable to see the road before him. Wilbur continued to fire at the man in black.

The vigilante turns his head around and smiles, leaping off the hood of the car, landing on his back.

The thieves look at the sight before them wide-eyed.

A road barrier.

The car breaks through the barrier, revealing a 20-foot drop to the ground below. "AHH HAHAHA," the burglars screamed as they plummeted towards the ground below.

They land with a great thud, the front of the car impacting first, crumbling under the force of the impact. The car then leans forward and falls. Upside-down. The thieves groan in pain, clutching at anything that might help them escape the wreck they fell in. Finally, they open the doors and roll out, exhausted and dazed.

The driver was the last to come out. He removes his mask and takes out the gun he had from his waste. "That was Batman!" he exclaimed.

"This ain't Gotham man," the other thief replied. "And Batman don't even dress like that," he continued as he looked around, above him, trying to spot the man who wrecked their car.

Wilbur simply put his finger to his lips, indicating the other two to stop talking. He looked around, realizing that they fell into a garbage dump of some sort. He points at the warehouse nearby and gestures others to follow him inside.

The thieves, watching each other's backs and aiming their pistols and rifles in front of them, slowly enter the empty warehouse. Wilbur walks into a toolbox and stops. He opens it and discovers a couple screwdrivers, measuring tape and flashlights. He takes on of the flashlights for himself, giving the others to the remaining two.

They turn them on, still holding their guns in one hand and find a flight of stairs. They walk up them slowly, creaking noises following their every step, but inaudible to the thieves due to the heavy rain.

'They make enough noise to wake the dead,' Matt thought as he monitored the thieves from the shadows. 'Should be quick though. Tomorrows a school day.' The thieves reached the top of the stairs to the top floor of the warehouse. Unfortunately for them, there were too many windows to watch, so they huddle around the center of the floor.

"You think it's him?" the driver asked? "That guy who Turk talked about!"

The third thief almost laughs, "Since when has anything Turk said been true?" He said, still looking at every window. "He got busted last week though didn't he?" the driver continued, ignoring his partner's comments. "He says he got busted by some dude in a mask."

"He paid bale yesterday. Besides Turk says a lot of things."

The driver walks around and steps onto a weak floorboard, breaking it. "This floor don't feel safe," he said with a shaky voice.

Wilbur turns around with a wrinkled brow. "Shut up you idiots. Just listen." He said, quieting his tone. All the thieves look up as they hear a subtle creak above them on the roof.

'Too fast you, idiot, too fast,' Matt thought to himself as he hears the distinct sound of the guns below him cocking. "Shoot him, he's on the roof," Wilbur cried out as he open fired. They continue to fire until all their guns click, indicating their guns were empty. "I think we got him," the third thief said.

The floorboards beneath him gave way, revealing two black-gloved hands reaching for his ankles, dragging him towards the floor below.

Wilbur reloads and points his rifle at the newly formed hole. "Wilbur no, you might hit…" his sentence is cut off by gunfire.

"Might hit John? I think I did," Wilbur replied, his eyes darting around, looking at the ground below him searching for the vigilante. He sees something approach him. The clank of wood hitting bone filled the air around them, as a wooden baton hit Wilbur in the temple. The older thief slumped to his knees and fell into the hole in the floor, landing on the body he shot moments before.

The driver runs, his heart rate rising and sweat glazing his face and stinging his eyes.

He's afraid.

The remaining thief quickly stumbles down the stairs, jumping off the last few flights and heads towards the entrance of the warehouse. He does not notice the figure in black sneak up behind him. Matt grabs his mouth, muffling his victim's voice and uses his other arm to wrap around the driver's neck.

The thief, squirms around, his hand trying to grab Matt by the face. Matt responds by kicking him in the back of the knee, making the driver slump down, and the young vigilante applies further pressure to the thief's throat. Soon he stops squirming and he falls to the ground unconscious.

Matt then steps on the thief's ankle, shattering it.

"That's for shooting at me," Matt said without a trace of emotion in his voice. Matt then turns his head as he hears Wilbur get up. The older man looks at the masked vigilante, his eyes the size of golf balls and slowly backs away.

Matt walks towards him slowly, making sure that he pointed his head towards Wilbur to make it seem he was looking at him. The older thief licked his lips, struggling to find words to say, he looked at the driver and said "You crippled him, he's just a kid."

Matt gives a small smirk.

"You killed your own man to get to me," he said with a deep, albeit obviously fake voice.

"And you shot at a couple cops after robbing a bank," Matt continued as he walked forward at a faster pace. "Besides, he'll walk again," he said with venom in his voice, thinking back to how his dad was almost shot by the man before him.

"You won't though," the young vigilante stated as he rushed forward and delivered a powerful kick to Wilbur's shins. The crack of bones was all Wilbur could hear as he let out a scream. His cry in pain was cut short by Matt punching him in the throat, knocking him out.

'Shouldn't have shot that guard,' He thought as he felt the heat of Wilbur's blood exit his body.

* * *

 **Midtown High, New York, Monday, September 21st, 2009:**

"Mr. Murdock? Mr. Murdock!" A shrill voice said for the umpteenth time as Matt woke up from his desk shaking his desk.

Matt gets up from his desk taking a boxing stance, shaking his head in confusion with drool leaking from his mouth. "Mr. Murdock, after you are done punching the air, would you be so kind as to STAY AWAKE whilst I'm teaching?" the shrill voice asked rhetorically with a hint of venom in her tone.

After the sniggering of his classmates passed, Matt remembered that he was in class and blushed. "Yeah, um…sorry Ms. Lee," Matt said as he sat back in his seat, pretending to search the desk with his hands for his books.

'Sixth time in two weeks,' Matt thought to himself as he struggled to stay awake, listening to Ms. Lee drone on and on about Nixon and the presidency, or was he in biology class, Matt wasn't listening to her anyway.

Matt repressed a groan as he stretched his back, his rough landing after he got off the car last night really did a number on him. 'Maybe I need some armor or something?' Matt contemplated for a few seconds. 'Nah, too expensive and way too heavy,' he surmised.

Matt decided to close his eyes and meditate to alleviate the pain, sitting, of course, his glasses would conceal that action, so he doesn't need to worry about Ms. Lee busting him. Matt takes a lot of micro-naps and meditates across the day to compensate for his lack of sleep at night. Unfortunately, the micro-naps are a bit too noticeable.

As Matt meditates, he hears the sounds of everyone and everything around him. Grumbling stomachs, people whispering in classrooms, couples cutting class and kissing in the bathrooms, grasshoppers in the schools field. The young hero slowly filters out these noises as he hears a familiar set of footsteps near the principal's office.

'Wait? Height, weight, scent, please don't tell me….'

Those thoughts were interrupted by the ring of the school bell. Matt immediately shot up from his seat, picked up his cane and tapped it around as he rushed to reach the source of the footsteps. 'No, please don't walk this way, please don't walk this way!' Matt thought as the aroma of perfume filled his nostrils.

"Mathew! Matt!" a woman called out as Matt turned a corner. "Hey, mom," Matt said, rushing towards her. "What're you doing here?" Matt said with a slightly irritated tone.

Miranda raised her eyebrow and simply gave a knowing smile to the young teen, "Well I just wanted to give you your lunch, but I guess you'd rather starve than be seen with your mom, Mathew," she said with a false upset tone.

"Mom, it's just…..whatever, just give me the lunch," the blind teen managed to blurt out as he blushed. "Mathew, where are your manners, me and your father didn't raise you in a barn." Matt was about to protest till he heard the footsteps of his classmates down the corridor, "Fine, please mom, just give me my lunch, we'll talk later promise!" Matt pleaded as he reached in his mother's general direction for his food.

Miranda, empathising with his son, placed the lunch box in Matt's hand and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "MOM!" Matt cried out embarrassed.

Miranda simply said goodbye and walked towards the exit of the school.

Matt gave a sigh of relief. 'Jesus, fighting idiots with guns is less stressful than that. Let's hope no one heard any of that.'

As Matt turned the corner a familiar heartbeat filled his ears. 'Ah, crap,' Matt exclaimed in his head. "Hey, Mathew. Got your lunch?" a voice echoed mockingly. "Shut it Britt," Matt replied.

"Now remember, Mathew, you need to eat your greens and brush your teeth," the older teen simply continued in a childish tone. Matt simply raised his eyebrow, exactly like his mother. "This coming from the guy who owns a superman onesie?" Matt asked rhetorically.

Britt just responded by wrapping his arm around Matt's shoulder, "Ok, one, my onesie is the shit ok. And two we need to hang out more, you come backs need some work."

"Can't," Matt said with no hesitation in his voice. "Why not?" Britt asked indignantly. "We never hangout anymore. Hell, even Lakshmi goes out more than you now! Is it cus that Japanese guy beat you in that test? He beat Lakshmi too you know." Matt just grimaced at the mention of the test. "Sendo technically got the same grade as Lux, and no, it's my brothers match today remember?"

Britt, scratched his head and gave a confused look, well Matt at least that's what Matt assumed.

"Thought that was tomorrow?"

"Nope, today." Before Britt replied Matt interrupted him, "I'm gonna need someone to tell me what's going on," Matt continued.

"Right." Britt said.

"Someone who knows the rules of boxing," Matt leaded on.

"Ok."

"Yo cannot be this dumb, I'm asking you to come you idiot!" Matt told his friend, his face red with frustration.

Britt just nodded his head and gave Matt a perplexed look. "Nah, too busy," Britt said, crossing his arms and giving a childish tone again. Matt then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and waved it in front of Britt's face.

Britt just started at Matt dumb founded. "That's a shopping list." Matt ran his finger over the paper, subtly to 'read' it and blushed "sorry, my bad," he then procures another piece of paper from his remaining pocket and waves it in Britt's general direction.

Britt snatches it from Matt's hand and starts reading its contents. The young millionaire looked at his friend with an expression of disbelief and began to talk. "Is this serious?"

"Yep," Matt replied. Britt gave a small laugh, "Really?"

"Really," Matt reassured.

Britt put gently hit his friends shoulder and laughed. "Ring side seats to your brothers match. That is awesome bro!" Matt smiled, Britt was always a big boxing fan and admired Mark.

A ring side seat basically is the closest you can be to the ring, unless you're a corner man, the guys stitching up a fighter and giving them advice after each round. They're usually reserved very quickly and Britt wasn't the best at co-ordinating meet ups, or at remembering dates so he always missed the bookings.

Matt was saving this up since he knew Britt would be annoyed that they don't spend that much time together anymore. But Matt feels that his new extra-curricular activities are far more important.

"So…." Britt said, elongating the word, "Is she coming?"

"Lakshmi?"

Britt shook his head and delivered the next few words like a whisper, "No, I mean, you know. _Her_. Your brothers super-hot nurse girlfriend." Matt rolled his blind eyes, though Britt never saw thanks to his glasses. "You mean Claire?"

"Yeah!" Britt said, with the temperament of an excited puppy. Matt gave his friend a derisive look, "Yeah, I assume so." Britt then gave a Matt a suggestive grin. "Take that look off your face," Matt scolded. "How do you know I'm giving a look?"

"You give a really weird look when you think about a hot chick. Well, that's what people told me." Matt said in a matter of fact manner.

"People?"

"Lakshmi," Matt said.

Britt shook his head, "Knew it," he said with a small smile on his face. Britt then turned to Matt, "We should invite her." Matt then turned to him, with a confused look on his face "Claire?"

"What? No, Lakshmi you idiot," Britt said in a slightly patronizing tone. The blind student then shook his head, "I dunno. She isn't really into boxing though, is she?" Britt then started pulling Matt subtly to indicate the direction in which he should walk.

"Well, she's never seen your brother fight. Besides Claire ain't that into fighting either," Britt said as he directed Matt to a seat in the cafeteria. Matt proceeded to unpack his lunch as he spoke, "Well to be fair she's his girlfriend, Lakshmi doesn't really have a stake in this." Matt said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Britt opened a pack of chips, the scent of which made Matt's nostrils burn with the scent of preservatives as Britt spoke, "Dude, we haven't hung out as a group since that day at Franks. Come on man, besides, I know you have another ticket for her," Britt said, simultaneously chewing his chips.

Matt, despite being annoyed by Britt's loud chewing gave a shrug, confirming Britt's previous statement. "Alright then, that settles it then," Britt said, "We wait for Lux and ask her."

"Ask me what?" a female voice said as she put down her bag. Britt then put his hand on her shoulder and gave an almost childlike smile, "Matt's invited us to his brothers match!" he said as Lakshmi covered her ear as Britt basically shouted in her ear. "I'm not sure, I mean I'm not into boxing," Lakshmi said as she removed Britt's hand from her shoulder, rubbing it since he basically crushed it in his excitement.

Matt gave Britt a look, "See!" he said pointing to him.

Britt then turned to Lakshmi and gave her what he liked to call, the puppy dog look. "That's so not going to work," she said as she tried to change the subject.

Britt not giving up maintained the look. "Britt, stop it. I mean it."

"It's going to take more than a sad face to convince me."

* * *

After 20 minutes of staring Lakshmi finally gave in, and after another 30 minutes of her calling her parents and convincing them of letting her go she promised the boys that she would come.

"I am a genius," Britt said as the trio walked out of school. Lakshmi gave a small punch to the taller teens arm. "No, it's just that you look like a constipated whale when you do that thing with your face," she replied as Matt supressed a laugh.

"Hey, Sarah told me it was 'super adorable', her words," Britt said defensively.

Matt then interjected, "You gave her $1000 worth of gifts, so of course she said that."

Britt stared at his friends for a solid 10 seconds. "Screw you guys," he finally responded as Matt and Lakshmi continued to laugh. "Anyways," Britt said, ignoring his friend's reaction. "I'll swing by your place and pick you up at around 6," he said, as he gently tapped Matt on the shoulder, Matt giving Britt a thumbs up.

"And I'll be at yours by around 6:30."

"Ok, done," Lakshmi said whilst sorting through the messages on her phone. Britt then tapped Matt on the shoulder again, "Your dad coming?"

"Nah, he and mom are working some big case. He wants to pick her up after the trial."

Who's trial?" Lakshmi asked.

* * *

"Mr. Roscoe Sweeny," Miranda Murdock said, eyeing the man in the stand as she addressed the jury. Roscoe was a man of average height, and a bit on the heavy side. He had a crooked nose and grey hair. He was more commonly known by his street name ' _The Fixer'_

A man in the opposite table to Miranda's, the accused Walter Kovacs, a man accused of running the Italian mob. He was 4 foot 10 inches tall, bald and had a misshaped head, making his nickname all the more ironic. He had his eye on Miranda as she walked across the courtroom much to Miranda's disgust.

"Mr. Sweeny, with Vito Corleone in prison someone must have been running this so-called family in his absence? Someone whom people on the street known as ' _Big Figure'_ , is that man in this courtroom today?" Miranda asked with so much authority that everyone was focussed solely on her.

The fixer simply nodded.

Miranda then turned to face Kovacs, AKA Big figure. "Can you identify him for us please?" she asked somewhat rhetorically.

Roscoe Sweeny chuckled, "Alright councilor, ya got me," he said with a thick Boston accent. Miranda gave a smug smile towards Big Figure, the dwarf simply returning one back.

The fixer then spoke, "It was me!" in a sarcastic tone.

The crowd and jury laugh as Miranda, with a surprised look on her face, walked towards her table and procured a piece of paper. "I have a sworn statement, from you Mr. Sweeny that this man," Miranda points a finger at Big Figure, "Walter Kovacs is the new head of the Corleone crime family."

The Fixer gives a faux bemused look, "Kovacs, Nah, he's the fall guy, I'm the brains of this operation." The judge slams his hammer shouting "Order" as the crowd continues to laugh. Miranda turns to the judge and asks, "Your honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile?" she asks.

"Granted."

Sweeny then stands up, "Hostile?" he asks as he pulls a gun from his pocket and towards Miranda, "I'll show you hostile," he finishes as he pulls the trigger.

'Click.'

'Click.'

The gun misfires, it doesn't shoot.

The crowd gasps, Miranda take the moment of confusion to grab the gun from The Fixers hand and slam his face with it.

Miranda, gun in hand walks towards Big Figure. "German single-shot pistol, Liberator," she said calmly and places the weapon in front of him. "Mr Kovacs, if you want to kill a public servant, I suggest you buy American," she said looking him dead in the eye, managing to put a smile on her face.

The judge gestures to the guards, "Get him out of here!" he ordered.

Miranda turns towards the judge, "But your honor, I'm not done," she said in a semi-playful tone. Her bravery earning her a round of applause from the audience. Jack Murdock holstered his pistol, and sat down with the audience, putting up a smile and applauds too.

* * *

"The idiot who organized security here ought to be shot. My green-nosed partner could do a better job," Jack Murdock said to his wife as he paced angrily across the hallway of the district attorney's office. Miranda simply chuckled and shook her head at her husband's anger, but she felt a similar sentiment. "To be fair, Blake couldn't have stopped the guards from being bribed."

Jack grunted in disapproval, "I still don't understand why you joined the DA's office, I could have cracked this case in my own you know," he said, his voice laced with concern. Miranda simply grabbed her husband's arms, "Honey, the day you can go through a thousand pages of documents in a day and fall asleep once, is the day I quit this job," she said, with a somewhat whimsical tone.

"Miranda," Jack said with a pain in his voice, "you nearly got shot today."

The lawyer looked straight into her husband's eyes and leans against his chest, "I know," she said as she embraced her husband, "But if the mob wants me dead, I must be doing something right," she said garnering a small chuckle from Jack.

"Talk to Matt when you get home," Miranda said, giving a peck on Jack's lips. Jack just stared at her with some disbelief, "You not coming?" he asks. "I need to get some of that paperwork done, Big Figure isn't going to jail on his own!" she says putting on a very bad Italian gangster accent. "Well, I'm dropping you off. And picking you up!" he says in a manner which tells Miranda she has no say in that matter.

Miranda taps her husband in the shoulder, "Alright, just don't shoot anyone."

Jack admires his wife as she walks towards the car, ' _Damn, I love that woman_ ,' he thinks to himself.

* * *

Matt comes home tired, not exhausted but just tired. He throws his bag on the couch and opens a bottle of water as he hears his father walk back and forth in his room, screaming on the phone. He ignores that as he acclimates to the pain in his back.

The young vigilante makes a plan in his head 'Ok, talk to dad, meditate for a half hour, train for another hour and a half, wait for Britt while eating dinner, ' _watch_ ' Mark beat the crap out of the American heavyweight champ and then put on the suit and go out for a ' _Walk''_ he thinks to himself, sipping his water as he tried to drown out his father's shouting. Without much success.

Matt then notices a scent in the air. 'Oil, Japanese Oak,' Matt detects as he walked towards his room. The source of the scent was a Japanese puzzle box.

He then spent the next 15 minutes opening the damn thing, revealing a small scroll. Matt runs his finger over the text and smiles. "Kato's back. He wants to meet me at a training spot past mid-night," Matt said with excitement as he jumped on the couch. An excitement cut short by his father's rage.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE PAID BAIL?" Jack yells into the phone as a vein bulged from his forehead, "HE POINTED A GUN AT MY GODDAMN WIFE, AND HE PAID BAIL!" he continued, the last sentence catching Matt's attention.

Jack uttered a few choice curse words and slammed the phone down. The aging man lets out a massive sigh as he notices Matt in the living room through the slightly opened door. Jack scratched his head as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Guessing Mom's trial didn't go well," Matt stated.

Jack grabbed a beer from the fridge, "Yeah, you could say that" he said as he took a large swing. The aroma of the fermented drink filled Matt's nostrils, he's accustomed to the scent at this point. But he still doesn't like it though. Jack sits next to his son as he passes his finger across the back of Matt's neck. "So how'd you get this kid?" he asks as Matt adjusts the collar of his shirt. 'Damn, didn't think the bruise was visible,' Matt thought.

Matt moves his head in his father's general direction, "Jumped out of the way of a car," he said in a neutral tone.

'Kid bluffs like his mother,' Jack thinks, recognizing that his son gave him what was at least a partially true answer.

"Son, I know get into fights. Not sure if it's in school or some ring but I know that you do," Jack said as he put his arm around his son pulling him in. "And yeah, I get it. You've got a chip on your shoulder, you wanna prove something to the world. That's why your brother does what he does, that's why you do those weird kung-fu type workouts. You wanna show that you're not some weak blind kid and you're like everyone else. I get it."

Matt sat calmly with his arms crossed, 'Great, another speech about books and school,' he thought.

"My daddy died before I was born. Your Grandma had to raise me all on her own. For a working-class mom, she never expected her son to become a doctor or a lawyer, she would be happy if I didn't die in some barroom brawl," he said, the direction of the conversation catching Matt off guard.

Jack continued, "I could never read that well. Dyslexia wasn't a thing in those days. The school thought I was a dummy. And I guess I was." Jack pauses, smiling. "After a few years, I just gave up on the whole thing and started playing flunky. I bunked class, and just wandered the kitchen."

Jacks eyes then looked up as he remembered his youth, "One day, I decided to look into a local boxing gym. I pick fights with other kids like me anyways, I thought ' _may as well know how to throw a punch and not get a tooth stuck in your hand'._ " Matt winced at that thought, he has experienced that a lot in training.

Jack chuckles at his reaction, "It ain't that bad kid," he says still looking upwards. "Well, I went in and started copying what the other guys were doing. Skipping rope, push-ups the works." Jack then gave a slightly pained look. "The older guys must've thought that they'd have some fun with me and made me go through a pro's workout."

Jack then violently slapped his arm and laughed as he spoke his next sentence, "I thought my arms would fall off. But I never fell down, I never gave up. They eventually told me to stop, take a week off and to come a few years later."

Jack then reminisces on the smell of old shaving cream and boxing tape, "So lo and behold, a few years later I'm in a ring, facing a guy twice my size in a professional fight just to win a couple hundred bucks." Jack then places his hand on his jaw as he remembers the first real punch he took. "That first punch just came out from nowhere. I thought that was the end, you know. But I got up and went at him," Jack said as he changed tone.

"I felt like an animal, a lion, caged in with a little gazel. He may as well be, after the first couple rounds the other guy literally jumped out the ring with his ass hanging out of his shorts," Jack said with a hearty laugh, a laugh shared by his son.

Jack then turned to Matt, "But life was never easy. Running, training, fighting. The same routine, over and over again just to scrape by wasn't the best situation," the former boxer said as rubbed the metal implant in his neck he got a few years ago after his final match.

"I probably would've done that till my knees done me in. But one day, on one of my runs," Jack nearly sings out, "I bumped into this lady, a dame, and the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."

Jack's eyes redden as he remembers what happens next, "And to my surprise, she looked at me. 'Jack!' she said. I was like, wow, the boxing thing must be paying off. I thought I was famous or something," he said with some embarrassment.

"Turns out we used to be classmates back in middle school and she just happened to be walking past," he said shaking his head at his naiveté. "So we talk and I convince her to grab a drink with me later that day. So we talk about stuff, how she's in law school and I'm fighting. And I manage to get her number."

Jack then takes another sip of his beer, "Long story short, we start dating and her and my ma have a long talk after my final bout." Jack scratches his neck as he remembers the way his neck just popped after one punch too many. "That match ended in a draw. But I'd just lost my entire way of living."

Jack then took a few more gulps, "I was in a really bad way, I'll spare you the details son but it was just….." he paused. "Anyway, I meet this friend of mine for a drink. He was one of those older guys in the gym I talked about. He managed to get a job as a cop a few years before and I thought that I may as well try."

"So, I got back into shape, with a lot of difficulties and took the tests. Your mom helped me learn the theory stuff and I managed to get through," Jack admitted.

Matt wondered where this story was going, "After your ma and I got married I went on night patrol in the kitchen."

Jack then started tearing up, "An African American woman had just overdosed on some dope and her 5-year-old son called it in, screaming on the phone about his mama." Jack then finished his drink and crushed the can.

"Boy was called Mark. Your brother Matt."

Matt's eyes shot wide open. He never knew that's how his father found Mark, he assumed it was a normal adoption.

"Marks, dad had ran out on the family a year before. The mom turned to prostitution to pay for the rent. Guess the pressure of a baby boy was too much for her to handle too," Jack stated with venom in his voice at the thought of a man abandoning his own child. Jack then spent a few seconds calming down as he placed his hand on Matt's shoulder. "I don't mean to go into this thinking you're some criminal for getting into fights. I totally understand it, you're my blood after all." Jack then shifts his entire body to face Matt on the couch.

"Son, whatever it is you're going through, you can talk to me. Or ma. If school's too much or whatever else, I can help you if you talk to me," Jack said with sympathy.

Matt wiped the tears from his eyes as he nodded.

Jack smiled, "Alright champ, just sleep on it ok. I'm gonna pick up your mom at around 8. That's when Mark's match starts right."

Matt nodded again. "Yep."

"Alright, just make sure Britt doesn't flirt with Claire again, the boy's harmless enough but I'm sure it gets annoying." Matt chuckled, "You don't know the half of it dad," he said, suppressing his guilt for lying to his dad for the past couple weeks.

The young teen walks to his room and sits on the floor.

He needs to meditate.

Calm his mind.

* * *

"What's taking her so long?" Britt asks as he looks at his watch. "Match starts in half an hour. She needs to be out in like 5 minutes."

Matt was getting impatient as well. They called and texted Lakshmi for what seemed like days and she just responded with, "Getting ready," each time. Matt can hear her pacing in her room, trying on various articles of clothing, her older sister giving compliments and Lakshmi rejecting them and trying on another shirt, or a pair of jeans.

Britt, being the quote ' _genius'_ he then comes up with a brilliant plan, "We could climb her window." Matt just raises his eyebrow and frowns, "Can't you just go to their front door?"

"Nah," the young millionaire responds, "Her parents don't really like me."

Matt grins, "Jeez, I wonder why?" he asks sarcastically. "Maybe flirting with her older sister wasn't the best move." Britt just moans in annoyance, "Seriously it wasn't flirting, it was just…um…targeted compliments."

"Yeah, otherwise called flirting," Matt responded.

"Ok Casinova, why don't you go to the front door," Britt asks

Matt adjusts his glasses, "I've got the opposite problem, they talk to me way too much. I guess it's a novelty to have an American speak 3 Indian languages," Matt says, blushing as he remembers Lakshmi's mom treating him like a kid as she asked way too many questions about his visit to her home country.

"Why'd you go to India again?" Britt asks Matt as he looked at his watch, again.

"Reasons."

Britt just stared at his friend till he remembered that Matt couldn't see him do that. He impatiently taps his foot on the limo floor and then raises his hands. "That's it, I'm climbing," he said as he opened the car door.

Matt leaps out and picks up his cane, extending it and walking behind Britt. "No you idiot," Matt says grabbing the air in front of him till he grabs Britt. "She might still be changing," he said, making Britt's face lose color. "Forgot about that," he stated, blushing a little. "Alright, I'm boosting you up."

"What?" Matt asked as Britt walked underneath Lakshmi's window, which was on the first floor.

Britt then clapped to direct Matt to his direction and continued speaking, "I boost you up, you knock on her window. She sees you, you don't see her. Simple." Matt slaps his forehead, "How is that simple? Do I have to remind you that I'm blind?" he asks, waving his hand in front of his face.

Matt hears her sister walk out of the room and slam the door. The latter sound was audible enough for even Britt. "Ok, that's queue. Come on."

"This is going to suck so much," is all Matt said as he ' _accidentally_ ' placed a foot on Britt's face as he climbs on his hands. "Hey, watch the face pal," Britt said in his 50's advertiser voice. Matt rolls his eyes as he pretends to struggle to find the window sill as Britt hoists him up. Matt then paws at the window and knocks. Lakshmi gives a little shriek as she opens the curtains.

Matt just waves. "Hi," he mouths to her.

The young lady helps her blind friend up and closes the curtains. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she whisper-shouted angrily. Matt raised his hands in the air, "Blame Britt, this was his idea." "You were taking way too long anyway," he said making Lakshmi look at the clock in her room. "That's the time? Crap!" she exclaimed as she removes her itchy yellow sweater and throws it in Matt's face.

Matt's face turns a bright red that would make a tomato envious. 'Not sure if I should be happy or sad I can't see her now,' Matt thinks as Lakshmi strips off her baggy shorts and puts on some underpants and a pair of skinny jeans.

Matt blushes even further, the blood burning his cheeks. "Should I turn around or something?" he asks, trying to distract himself.

Before Lakshmi could respond Matt turned his head as he hears footprints nearing the door. Lakshmi then hears them too and panics. Covering her chest, she grabs Matt with the force of a polar bear and throws him into her wardrobe as she puts on a top and closes the wardrobe door.

' _What the hell is happening?_ ' Matt thought as he adjusts his body in the small wardrobe. The footsteps got closer. The heartbeat was familiar. ' _Great, it was the sister_.'

Lakshmi's door opens, "Sis, mom wants to know if you want any snacks for the night." "Nope," Lakshmi quickly responds. Her sister then points at her, making both Matt and Lakshmi shudder in fear. "Is that my tank top?" she asks as Lakshmi notices that it was a bit too big for her. She then gestures the younger girl to give it back. "Come on Ava," Lakshmi whines.

Ava comes back, "No way Amma and Appa are letting you out with that much skin on display. Give it here." Lakshmi reluctantly takes it off as Matt tries ignoring the blood rushing to the certain parts of his body.

' _Please don't open the wardrobe, please don't open the wardrobe,_ ' both teens chanted in their heads as Ava walked towards the wardrobe.

As Ava's hand neared the knob of the wardrobe Lakshmi rushed in and grabbed her arm. "Actually sis," she started, flustered as both teens breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I'm going to wear this," Lakshmi stated picking up a slightly form-fitting red and blue striped, cold shoulder shirt from the floor.

"Didn't you say it looks like a zebra painted red?" Ava questions her little sister. "Changed my mind," she said as she sniffed it to see if it was clean. Ava rubs her temple. "Fine, whatever." She says, walking towards the room door. Making both teens relax.

She pauses halfway through the doorway and gives a final piece of advice, "You might wanna wear a bra or something, it's chilly outside. Don't want them poking out like they are now, do you?" Ava playfully told her sister and winked, causing Lakshmi to glow red and cover her naked chest and Matt to go light headed.

'Literally TMI, _WAY TOO MUCH_ information,' he thought as Ava walked out.

Lakshmi slams her door and falls onto her bed in embarrassment after putting on all the required clothing.

"You decent yet? Can I come out now?" Matt asks, with the voice akin to a puppy.

"Yeah," she says, a shameful smile on her face.

Matt walks out of the wardrobe and both friends face each other, crimson-cheeked.

And laugh.

They laugh for a solid minute, almost asphyxiating in the process. "Ok," Lakshmi said, gasping for air in between laughs, whipping a tear from her eye. "Let me put on some perfume and we can leave."

"Oh hell no, we are so not going through _that_ again!" Matt said pointing to the wardrobe.

He then walks towards the table where he smells the highest concentration of perfume and takes in the overall feel of the room. ' _Carpeted floors, a clock ticking, smell of acrylic on her posters, cleaning fluid for her computers, two, no three computer screens humming, ha, 3 bottles of perfume_.'

Matt then feels around for the perfume to keep up the completely blind guy routine. He grabs it and smiles. "Alright, just walk here will you," he asks, with Lakshmi complying out of curiosity and convenience. The blind teen awkwardly touches her shoulder to get a better grasp of her range, only to be taken aback by her bare shoulder. "No, no the shirts like that, I'm not like….you know," she clarifies, seeing Matt's confusion. 'Still blind, thankfully I guess,' Matt thinks as he aims the perfume bottle at Lakshmi.

He sprays the liquid in just the right quantity as Lakshmi walks a foot forward to spread it across her body. "Great, you smell amazing now," Matt said playfully but with some impatience in his voice. Lakshmi blushes but composes herself. She then asks Matt how they're going to explain his appearance in her room. "Just go downstairs to Britt's limo, I'll get down myself," Matt said with the utmost confidence. After further convincing, her Lakshmi finally went downstairs Matt opened the window.

'Judging by his outline based on my RADAR sense, the distance of his heartbeat and where his breathing is, he's not facing the house,' Matt surmised after sensing Britt's position.

Matt then stood on the window sill and jumped down, performing a triple summersault in the air and lands on his feet with the poise of an Olympic gymnast. Matt adjusts his shirt, he didn't make a sound.

He then walks towards Britt and taps him on the back, startling the older teen. "What the…..Matt, where the hell did you come from? Where's Lux? She coming or not?" Britt questioned Matt. The conversation was interrupted by the front door of the house opening, with Lakshmi emerging from it.

"I'm so, so, so sorry I'm late," she says hitting Britt's hand and awkwardly poking Matt's, making the two blush slightly. "Guessing Matt's Romeo act went well," Britt said facetiously."She had to choose a stripy shirt is all," Matt said, trying to forget the events that transpired minutes ago.

Britt then briskly walks towards the limo, "Girl can hack a Spy Satellite but can't choose a stupid shirt!" he exclaimed telling the driver to start the car.

"Allegedly hacked," Lakshmi said as she helped Matt enter the car as he folded his cane. Lakshmi then looked around the inside if the car. "This is so cool Britt." She says as she sinks into the leather seating and sighs comfortably.

"This kinda smells like your dad's business limo," Matt stated as he noticed the smell after acclimating to the smell of Britt's cologne and Lakshmi's perfume. "You can tell by the smell?" the other two teens ask simultaneously as Matt just shrugs as a response.

Both look at each other and then at Matt and just give a shrug themselves.

"Next stop, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!" Britt shouted.

* * *

 **Madison Square Garden, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009 :**

Mark Murdock waited anxiously in his changing room. His robe was a smooth polyester, with an ivory white texture. His shorts white with red stripes. Sweat drips from his brow as Ted Grant wraps tape across his knuckles and hands.

Mark never felt that nervous before a match. He always had someone close to him for company. People to lighten the mood and to take his mind off the upcoming fight.

Dad and mom were busy with some case.

Matt called ahead to say he might be a little late, but Mark wasn't surprised. With those three he wouldn't be surprised if they burned down the whole city on their way over here. Unfortunately, Claire said that she had to work an emergency nightshift since the other night nurse was off sick.

The young fighter looked at his trainer with a worried look causing the old man to scoff.

"Look kid," he said as he put on his protégé's gloves on. "Just concentrate on the fight, not the crowd, your family or anyone else. It's just you, the ring and that son of a bitch in the way of your belt," he gruffly said, banging his gloves to check if they were on properly.

The African American man violently shook his head and gave Ted a steeled eyed stare. The old man smiles, "There we go kid," he encouraged Mark as he places his hand at the back of the young man's head, "Knock 'im dead!"

Mark nods and gives Ted a sturdy fist bump and stands to his full height of 6 foot 6 inches. "Alright," he said banging his gloves together, the impact nearly deafening Ted, "Let's go to war."

Mark and his entourage walk through the corridor with Ted violently rubbing his left ear, 'I've been through a war, and the bombs never made my ears ring like you, you oversized dummy,' Ted narrates to himself, giving a fatherly smile to his best student.

* * *

"Told you we wouldn't be late," Matt said as he sat down in his allocated ring side seat.

The lights in the stadium shined as bright as day, contrasting the deep black sky. Britt and Lakshmi's eyes took some time to adjust to the spot lights, Matt being oblivious to their plight. The noise in the stadium was deafening, people shouting, and fans of both fighters lifting banners, jeering and shouting.

Matt could hear the equipment of the commentators buzzing and whirring, the interference of the mike ringing in his ears and the radio waves that washed through the place like water in a dam gave the blind vigilante a clear 'image' of his surroundings. The scent of preserved snacks, artificial sugars and sweeteners from the candy people were eating filled the first few rows of the stadium, only over shadowed by the overwhelming aroma of perspiration and the bleached canvas of the ring.

Britt sat between him and Lakshmi, as per their request. The heir apparent gives a gentle nudge on Matt's shoulders. "We're just lucky to go through first cus of Matty here." He said with so much enthusiasm in his voice.

"Yeah, his brother is fighting here after all," Lakshmi added as she gave Matt a small smile, not knowing he could literally feel her smile.

Britt shook his head, maintaining eye contact with the ring. "Nope, the security didn't even look at their memos. They just let us through that quickly since Matt was blind." Britt revealed surprising the two with his observations. "So Matt, I'm so happy you're disabled," the young millionaire stated semi-sarcastically, immediately invoking a deriding chuckle from Matt and a slap to the head from Lakshmi, along with a dread inducing look.

The older teen just shrugged his shoulders "Hey, just preaching the truth here. Besides, we'd still be stuck in _that_ line if that wasn't true," he said, unwavering as he extended his arm fully to point to the crowd of people entering the VIP queue.

Matt didn't even bother counting the footsteps behind him to know that he was right. "Hey guys, what's the time?" he asks, trying to divert the conversation as Britt looks at his watch.

"7:45, match starts in 15 minutes."

Lakshmi turns to her two friends, rubbing her arms due to the cold air, "Who's Mark fighting anyway?" she asks, putting on a jacket she brought with her. Britt rubs his chin as he tries to recollect the name, "Ricardo Martinez, I think. The guy's number one in the WBA," he says, satisfied that he remembered the name. Lakshmi gives him a perplexed look, "WBA?" she asks. Britt takes a few seconds to try and form a response, fortunately, Matt came in to clarify her doubt.

"Basically, there are 4 main governing bodies in boxing. The WBA and the WBC, being the oldest and then the WBO and IBF being the relatively newer ones," he says as Britt huffs in annoyance.

Matt ignores him and further exposits, "Each of those 4 governing bodies has separate rankings for the fighters that are members of them. Their jobs are to basically aid in advertising and managing fights." Britt then interjects and cuts off Matt, "There are individual champions for each of those 4 and therefore 4 separate belts. The only way for a fighter to become undisputed champ is to beat the fighters that hold those belts."

Lakshmi nods, "So, the belts are like 4 separate dungeons in a game, with bosses unique to that belt." Britt and Matt smile at that analogy, "I guess, yeah. That's a pretty decent explanation actually." Britt admits to the Indian-American girl. "So is this Ricardo guy the WBA boss, I mean champ," she says, quickly correcting herself.

Matt shakes his head in response, "No, for some stupid reason, in boxing the number 1 ranked fighter is ranked just below the champ. So you could rank number 1 but still be ranked less than the champ," he says, remembering the annoyance his brother felt when he heard the champ of the WBA wouldn't fight him since he's ranked below Ricardo Martinez.

The blind teen then says proudly, "Mark wants to get all four belts for himself. No one's ever done it since they introduced the new belts." The two friends were about to respond when the overhead lights dimmed and the entrances for the fighters lit up.

First was Marks entrance. "This should be good," Britt stated firmly as a white hooded figure emerged along with his entourage. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise as yellow and orange light shined on the fighter and his team as an unusual, African song played in the stadium.

"That's the Circle of Life from Lion King, right?" Britt asks as his friends, with the other two slowly nodding in disbelief. Matt wonders how in God's name they got the rights to that song. 'Disney must own way more than I thought,' he wonders amusingly.

Ted opens widens the gap between the ropes, allowing the massive Mark to enter the ring. He throws some punches in the air, warming up with some shadow boxing. The cheering of the crowd stops as the stadium blackens. An old-school rap song plays as the visage of a black-robed figure emerges from the opposing entrance.

Red lights highlight the dark robed figure as he slowly paces towards the ring. He enters the ring without resistance, opening his robe, revealing his name on his Black trunks. "RICARDO MARTINEZ."

Both fighters warm up in their corners till the referee and Michael Buffer.

"That's the ' _Let's get ready to RUUMBBLEE'_ guy" Britt squeals out in a childlike manner, making Matt cover his ears, wishing he hadn't sat next to Britt.

"In the blue corner, The Challenger in the white trunks, Standing at 6 foot 6 inches tall, 245 pounds, With a record of 14 wins and 0 losses, all by KO," he says in a deep, baritone voice. "Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome 'Battlin'.Mark. MURDOCK'!" the crowd cheers, Mark raises his right arm in acknowledgment.

Matt smiles as he hears his father's old ring name used by his adopted brother.

Ricardo Martinez looks at Mark with some interest, he's known to be a hard hitter and extremely fast and precise for a man his size. Ricardo has seen him on video. He'd like to see just how fast.

"And in the Red corner with the Black Trunks, Standing in at 6 foot 2 inches and 200 pounds, With a record of 23 wins and 0 losses. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome 'Ricardo. Lightning. MARTINEZ!'" an even bigger cheer erupts from the crowd, Britt, Matt and other fans from Hell's Kitchen Booing the man Mark is about to fight.

Lakshmi, after she stops admiring Marks physique, despite not caring for the sport decides to join in, "Knock him on his ass, Mark!" she shouted. Surprising the boys momentarily till they joined in on the insults.

"Mess him up man, this guy ain't even the champ!" Britt shouted. "Do it for dad!" Matt added, remembering what he told him hours ago The crowd dies down somewhat as both fighters enter the center of the ring as the referee gives them the rules. Both men not breaking eye contact.

The kind, warm eyes of Mark were now just black holes, void of any compassion.

'Just me and you man, just me and you,' he thought as Martinez refused to give in to Mark's attempt at intimidation. 'This is my ring boy,' Ricardo thought as he analysed the younger fighter, 'You are never going to become champ. I'll make sure of that.'

Both fighters touch gloves and move back to their corners, sweat dripping in anticipation, waiting, for the ring of the bell.

' _Ding'_

Both fighters immediately leap towards the centre of the ring. The men placing their fists just below their eyes, the traditional boxing position. Mark slowly manoeuvres towards Ricardo, as he simply waits in place for the bigger man. Mark's forward momentum is cut short as a sharp pain entered his right eye.

He didn't see the punch coming.

'That's that famous straight punch,' Ted thought begrudgingly. 'Most boxers move their shoulders and hips to add extra force into their punches. Their pretty easy to read but Ricardo doesn't use his shoulders or hips. His punches are quick enough to do some damage and he snaps it back ready to throw another one before you know what happened.'

After tanking 3 more straight punches, Mark takes a few steps back and switches to a cross-guard stance, leaving his left wide open. A fact that Ricardo abused maliciously.

Each straight punch hit Mark straight on the left of his face, bruising slightly. The opposing boxer then delivers a punch to Marks gut. And another.

He delivers multiple straight shots to Mark, but the young fighter never wavers. He keeps taking the punches, making the audience wince with each blow. Lakshmi and Britt resisting the urge to look away at what they considered a one sided slaughter.

'Kid, what've you got on your sleeve?' Ted asks himself in the corner. After 10 more agonising seconds, Mark moves backwards again. He changes his stance again, but this time it catches Ricardo and the audience off guard.

He lowers both his hands to chest level and shuffles his feet on the canvas, warming up his legs. Ricardo eyes him cautiously, 'Arrogance? Or some plan?' he wondered as he edged towards his opponent. Mark, keeping his position the same and continued to shuffle his body.

Ricardo, getting into range decides to deliver another jab. He shoots his fist forward towards his intended target, only, it wasn't there.

Mark had tilted his body sideways, dodging the jab.

Frustrated, Ricardo delivers another straight jab. This time to Mark's left. With no time to move his torso, Mark tilts his head, making the jab miss again. Ricardo deals a dozen more punches, each dodged by Mark, almost effortlessly.

Ricardo stops his barrage, making Mark smirk. The larger fighter goads him by tapping his own chin, "Come on," Mark said, adding fuel to the fire. The older fighter looks on Mark with rage, he lunges forward, throwing a flurry of punches towards Mark, each dodged effortlessly by Mark as he twists his head, shoulders and torso, making the whole thing look like an elaborate dance.

Mark sees a body shot coming and leans slightly backwards, the punch grazing his chest. "Got you," Mark murmured, using his greater reach to his advantage and delivers a powerful uppercut to his opponents jaw, a great loud pop echoes across the crowd, drowning out even the powerful roar of the crowd.

Lakshmi yelps in shock, as Matt and Britt are stunned at the sudden display of force.

Ricardo instinctively grabs to ropes to save himself from falling down, Mark not even delivering a second punch plasters a cocky grin on his face as he walks away from Ricardo. All the older fighter could feel was his feet, the world around him looked like a kaleidoscope. He could he here something in the background, something…..something…. He falls on the canvas with an almighty thud, instantly ending the fight. The crowd go wild, but their screams cannot compare to the joy being displayed by one blind teenager.

"WAY TO GO MARK! YOU'RE THE BOSS, MAN, THE GODDAMN BOSS!" Britt shouts as Matt repeats the chant.

Ted smacks Mark in the head as he reached his corner.

"What was that for?" Mark asks indignantly as he removes his mouth guard. "That was reckless kid, stupid and dangerous." He scolded, making Mark roll his eyes. Ted then tapped him on the shoulder, "But that was a clever strategy kid!" he said, with pride in his voice, making Mark glow. "You trained me, Ted, never would have done that without you man."

The men look at each other and come together in an embrace. "One small step, kid. One small step and you're champ!"

Mark smiled, "Yeah, I know," he said, hoping his father was watching.

Britt was jumping around, salivating at Marks punch. "That was so freaking genius man. He changed stance to get a feel for Ricardo's punches in different directions and moved his body to deflect the damage. SO BADASS!" he said, making Lakshmi give an amused expression as she thought his fanboy like reaction was adorable. Though Matt was impressed at Britt's ability to deduce the strategy, most on lookers would assume that Mark was just getting beat on till he decided to take the fight seriously.

But Mark never underestimated an opponent. He carefully analyses them inside and out of the ring. Matt always wondered if he'd beat Mark in a fight. He knew that is was unfair since he was just a teenager and Mark was a fully grown man, but he was curious none the less. The impressive thing is that Mark's punching power would have been cut in half since he bent backwards when he delivered the uppercut, and he was still holding back even then.

'I'm faster and more agile,' Matt thinks. But so was Ricardo.

"Let's hope we never fight bro."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:**

"YES!" Jack Murdock exclaimed in immense joy as he put down his mobile phone.

Miranda, hair dishevelled and bags under her eyes from hours of work as she drove her beat up ford. "For the love of God almighty Jack, if this is about the lotto numbers again I swear I'll…." Jack, still giddy with joy "Nah, nah, it's Mark. He won! He's 1st in the whole WBA!" A smile crept across Miranda's face, "What round?" she asked despite knowing the answer.

"First round!"

"Where's he now? We should celebrate," Miranda stated as she turned a left.

The sound of a motorbike drowned out the next few words. "What the hell is that guy driving?" Jack asked as he looked in the rear view mirror. The biker, dressed in black leather and a black helmet drove up next to Jack. The police officer looks at the biker next to him, the view he was greeted him sent sweat dripping down his face.

A gun.

Before Jack could warn his wife the thunderous roar of gun shots filled the air as the glass from the window shattered and sprayed all over the inside of the car. Jack didn't have time to pull out his weapon as holes ripped through the former boxer, his blood covering his wife.

Miranda screams in terror, she loses control of the vehicle in the process, crashing into a street light. The biker stops in front of the car to examine the wreckage. He sees movement in the driver's seat, an airbag, shuffling. "Ja-jack…" a voice cried out weakly. 'Still alive?' the drive thought to himself as he walked next to Miranda. The lawyer looked upon her would be killer, fear clear in her eyes as he lifted a gun towards he face.

"Took your advice councillor. This ones American," he said in a thick Bostonian accent.

Miranda's face of fear, changed to one of realisation. "Sweeney?"

"No. I'm the Fixer, remember," he said, pulling the trigger.

…...

Silence.

Only broken by the sound of an empty gun clicking. "Hmm. Well shit. Guess I ain't as good of a shot as I thought," The fixer said, putting the pistol in his pocket. Miranda looked at him, tears streaming from her eyes. "Please," she pleaded, "I've two sons, please don't do this."

Sweeny stops. Smiling underneath his helmet.

"Usually I'd say that it ain't personal," he responded, putting his arm inside the now shattered window. Miranda unable to move simply watches. "But I looked like an idiot, getting hit by a woman in court today," Fixer responded, his voice steady as he wrapped his throat around Miranda's throat.

"So it is kinda personal," he continues as the lawyers face goes bright red, her eyes widening as she struggles to breath.

* * *

 **Hells Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:**

"How is it this quiet?" Matt asked himself as he leaped across a rooftop.

After the match Britt dropped him and Lakshmi off at their respective homes, and Mark elected to visit Clair at the hospital for what he called ' _A personal diagnosis_.' Matt shudders thinking about what that entails.

The streets have been unusually silent today. A mugging occurred around half an hour ago but it was some junkie too high to even stand. The lady he attempted to rob ended up just hitting him with her bag and ran off anyway. Matt called the cops using a payphone nearby just to make sure the junkie was arrested.

"Maybe I'm so scary and effective that all crime has stopped in the kitchen?" Matt says to no one in particular as he scales a wall. "Nah, even criminals must have off days." Matt then thinks that he may as well go to the rendezvous point to meet Kato, he can at least get a couple hours of sleep while waiting.

His thought process ended upon hearing gunshots in the distance and what sounded like a car crashing into something. "That's not good," the teen in black says, rushing to investigate.

* * *

"Usually I'd say that this ain't personal," a familiar voice said, grabbing the person inside.

'Crap, faster Matt come on!'

'Wait, the woman in the car. Her heartbeat. No….it's, MOM!'

"So it is kinda personal," Fixer says, tightening his grip on Miranda.

Sweeny sees something in the corner of his helmet visor. "AARGH!" he wails in pain as a wooden baton hit him in the visor, shattering the glass all over his face. Some entering his left eye, making him bleed, heavily. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" a voice growled from the shadows, a leg impacting Sweeny in the chest, making the larger man fall to the ground, clutching his bleeding eye.

Matt rushes towards his mom, opening the car door, removing her from her seat. "Come on, stay with me," he says in a panicked state, slightly relieved upon hearing her still beating, albeit weak heart. Matt gently places her down on the ground, using her coat as a pillow. The vigilante's nostrils flair as a familiar scent enters his nose, aftershave and old boxing tape. But tainted, by the smell of iron. No. Blood.

Matt leaps over the hood of the car to see the occupant of the passenger seat.

'No, no please don't be you, please God I'm begging you!' Matt prays as he takes of his glove and places his bare hand over the dead bodies. Cut and bruised. Clearly fresh, probably from the accident Matt surmised. "190 pounds, male, mid to late 40's." He further discovers.

He feels the air move differently near his chest. Some piece of metal is fixed to the left of his torso. Matt touches it revealing that it's a police badge. He brushes his finger over the inscription where his name would be, dreading what he would find.

"Jack Murdock."

Matt freezes. The world around him swirls into a vortex, he hears nothing, not the leaking oil of the engine, the breathing of his mother or the footsteps of the fixer running away. He can only concentrate on the corpse in front of him. The corpse of his dead father.

The vigilante wraps his arms around the warm body. He doesn't want to move. He can't. All he can perceive is the scent of his father, and his blood. He doesn't cry. He has no tears to shed. Matt tries searching for a heartbeat, but with no avail.

Matt backs away from his father's corpse and falls to his knees.

His screams echoed across the streets, and the sound of his fist impacting the road below filled his ears. Matt had no tears to shed. But his eyes were shot with red.

He could now hear the fixer running in the distance. More importantly, Matt could smell him. He smelt of his father's blood.

The vigilante clenched his fist as he stood up.

But the Fixer wasn't going to deal with Matt Murdock. He hurt his family. He hurt his father. And Matt's eyes go dead. Like his fathers.

He let the Devil out.

* * *

 **Well, that was long.**

 **I intended for Matt to confront The Fixer(A.K.A Roscoe Sweeny) in this chapter, but it's over 11,000 words long. So I thought I'd do it next chapter.**

 **Also, Big Figure is a gangster from the comic Watchmen. And the name I gave him, Walter Kovacs is the name of his nemesis Rorschach. I didn't want Matt to fight kingpin as a teenager since he would be absolutely destroyed in that first confrontation. He will appear eventually. Don't worry.**

 **Blake is the name of The cop from the Dark knight rises, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt. He'll play an important role in the story.**

 **Next chapter Matt is going to fight one of his most iconic villains. Care to guess who.**

 **Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Bullseye** :

 _ **Hells Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:**_

"Shit, shit, shit," Roscoe Sweeny spat out as he run through the alleys of Hell's Kitchen. Most punks and low lives leave 'The Fixer' well alone. He's notorious throughout the Kitchen's underworld for being one of the most dangerous sons of bitches on Big Figure's payroll.

But moments ago some masked idiot shattered his helmet visor and now he's away running like a women, holding his blood ridden eye.

The gangster was sure he heard someone screaming in the background but he never wanted to look back. That vigilante might still be there.

The sound of his footsteps through stagnant water filled the alleyways. It was a subtle reverberation but it was loud enough. He was being followed.

Matt could taste his parent's blood on fixer's hands.

The young teen ran like a lion chasing a gazelle. Though Sweeny had the grace of a limping bull. All Matt could focus on was Roscoe Sweeny's heartrate. He knew that rhythm.

The fixer was terrified.

Matt climbed up a nearby scaffolding and manoeuvred his way atop a building as Roscoe made a right turn. Suddenly the old gangster heard what sounded like a snarling dog above him.

He didn't see what hit him next.

He couldn't.

A gloved finger penetrated his only functioning eye.

"AARGHHHH," was the only noise Roscoe could make as he felt his entire body shut down. He didn't feel any pain. He couldn't even feel the blood streaming down his face and dripping onto his shirt. He could only feel dread and fear.

A leather soled boot found its way to Roscoe's neck.

" **Who the hell are you**?!" Matt growled as the old gangster squirmed under his boot heel.

All Roscoe could blurt out was an incoherent whine, causing the teen to slowly apply more pressure on his throat. Matt savored the sound of his father's killer gasping for air for what seemed like an eternity. Roscoe's face turned a bright blue, like that of an afternoon sky.

Matt released his foot by a half inch but for Roscoe it felt like a truck was lifted off of his throat. After allowing him to drink in the night air Matt violently grabbed Roscoe by the collar, tearing his jacket in the process.

The young vigilante then grabbed Roscoe's left wrist. "Talk, or I start breaking," was all he said, resisting the urge to rip the murderers' throat out.

Roscoe struggles to find his bearings as blood dripped from his eyes.

Wearing his patience thin Matt then twists Roscoe's wrist completely backward, an audible crack entering the older man's ears, his face turns completely pale. "Whaa….What the…..shiiiittt." Was all he could say before passing out due to shock.

* * *

Roscoe's head feels heavy, he tries to turn his head to try and get a better sense of where he was but his eyelids start to burn.

"It's alright 'Sweeny', I only took out the one eye, the other is just cut," a voice said in the distance, an echo preventing Roscoe from determining exactly where. The old gangster moves his eyeballs around behind his still closed eyelids. Sure enough, one eye sloshed around like jelly in a jar, whilst his other moved around relatively normally, albeit with a sharp pain.

Roscoe then takes a chance and opens his one remaining eye. He was greeted by what seemed like a black void. His vision blurry, and his head spinning he tried to determine which part of him wasn't completely messed up.

He tried to move his legs but felt a great resistance to the effort. Something was binding him, something cold. A chain maybe?

Roscoe then moves on to his hands, not surprisingly his left wrist feels limp. Definitely broken. He tries to rotate his right hand but he discovered that even his hands were bound by chains.

His vision slowly recovering, he moves his eye around, getting a better view of his surroundings despite the pain he felt every time he moved his eyeball.

He saw ropes in front of him. And saw the floor beneath him was a sort of canvas. "A boxing ring?" Roscoe asked himself.

He looked down and was shocked at what he found out.

He was naked.

He was sat butt naked on a chair in the middle of a boxing ring.

"Where the flying fuck are you?" Roscoe shouts out as he tried to hide the panic in his voice. The effort making Matt snigger a little.

"Come on, show yourself!"

A black gloved finger tapped his shoulder.

"Right here," Matt responded coldly.

Before Roscoe could deliver anymore tough guy lines Matt delivered a jab to his face, shutting him up. "What kind of idiot brings their ID during an assassination?" Matt asks rhetorically as he pulls out Roscoe's driver's license, putting his finger over the letters, 'reading' it.

Matt tilted his head and gave a pained smile, kicking Roscoe in the groin, making the older man's body jolt in pain.

'This idiot killed my father!' he thought to himself as he took a boxing stance and delivered a right hook to Roscoe's nose.

'He strangled my mother!' he continued his train of thought punching Roscoe again but this jaw. The older man's head recoils after the blow, his face bruised and bloodied. The gangster stares at Matt's masked face and spits out a mixture of blood and teeth at Matt's feet.

"I fought in Vietnam son," he said with some melancholy in his voice, "Those yellow bastards have punishment that makes this beating look like a love tap."

Matt then took a nail out of pocket and slowly walked towards his victim.

"I'm not a soldier," he said picking up a hammer as he made his way towards the bound man. "I don't have a war to fight. Not today," Matt placed the nail gently on Roscoe's knee. The gangster whimpers as the teenager slowly raises the hammer above the head of the nail.

"But you hurt the people I love. I'm just returning the favour," Matt stated, slamming the hammer down on the nail, his ears hearing everyfibere and muscle in Roscoe's knee tearing and shearing, drowning out his screams.

Matt hits the nail again, this time hitting bone. The sound it makes sounds like a sinking ship in Matt's ears but he doesn't care. He doesn't acknowledge the screams.

He can't. He has to make this man feel the pain his parents felt.

Then he'd die.

Before Matt could lower the hammer onto the nail again the sound of something cutting through the air distracted the teen. He felt something come towards him at a high speed and instinctively moved the hammer to try and block it.

To Matt's surprise it simply bounced off the hammer and entered Roscoe's mouth.

Suddenly the older man's face begins to swell. Matt hears his wind pipe contract and collapse, he's trying to cough out the object in his throat but can't.

'He's entering anaphylactic shock!' Matt realised.

Matt tries to ease the object out of Roscoe's throat, he can't have him die yet. But to no avail, he's taken too much of a beating to even spit out the projectile, the allergic reaction not helping.

Roscoe's heartrate is elevating far beyond what a man his age can handle. Matt continues to try and calm him down but it's too late. His heart has been through too much.

Matt stands in front of the naked man in shock.

'The Fixer' is dead.

The vigilante walks towards the fresh corpse and shoves his hand into his throat to extract the object that had killed him.

Matt found a round object and pulled it out.

A peanut.

* * *

The teenager just stood there, confused more than anything else. Someone put in the effort of locating him and Roscoe at the old, rundown boxing gym he was keeping him in, found a broken window with a clear shot of the two and instead of shooting Roscoe, they threw a god damn peanut at Matt which ricocheted off a hammer into Roscoe's throat. Which killed him thanks to a nut allergy.

Matt then heard heavy footsteps on a nearby building.

Getting out if his puzzled state, he runs to the top of the old boxing gym, ignoring the nostalgic scent of boxing tape and after shave.

He jumps onto a nearby ledge and scales up the building, finding every crack and corner he could exploit. He flips to the terrace only to be greeted by a familiar sound travelling towards him.

Matt opens his palm and catches it.

A peanut.

"That was a warning shot lad," an Irish accented man told him, pulling out a few shrunken from a utility belt. "Not gonna be throwing nuts at you next time," he said, almost jovially.

Matt used his sense to analyse the assassin. 'Male, early 20's, 5 foot 11, 190 pounds, wearing some kind of skin tight suit, can't detect any heat off of him except for the lower half of his face so the suit is thermal resistant.'

The assassin doing some analysis himself. 'He's young, really young. He's maybe 14 or 15, 16 at the most. But he climbed that building like it were a ladder and he caught something I threw. Guess this vigilante is the real deal,' he surmised.

What put Matt off the most was one thing the assassin lacked. The scent of gunpowder. All he could hear was the jingle of sharp edged weapons in his belt and hidden compartments. No fire arms.

Plus the assassin was Irish. Real Irish. Not American Irish.

Matt stopped analysing the assassin and started to speak, "You tracked us. You found the perfect perch, open window, lots of routes for you to escape. But you chose to throw a peanut off all things at Roscoe. Why? To make it look like I used his allergy as a torture method gone too far. To frame me while you run away? If so that's quite clever," Matt told the assassin with a deep voice walking sideways towards him, attempting to close the distance.

Another object was propelled towards Matt, the teenager barely moving his head to the side, the blade cutting Matt across the cheek.

"For the love of God almighty lad, I warned you didn't I? Why does no one ever listen to warning shots?" He asked rhetorically, as Matt still edged towards him. "Persistent aren't ya?" he said with a smile.

"I was hoping to wait a couple years till yer reputation grew bigger and someone would pay me to kill ya. But I ain't the type to ignore good old fashioned fisticuffs," the Irish assassin stated cracking his knuckles.

Matt charged at the assassin, throwing one of his clubs at the surface adjacent to the Irish man. The club ricochets off the ground and heads towards the back of the assassins head.

The jolly assassin casually tilts his head, making the club miss its target and it was now heading straight towards Matt. The teenager catches the club and swings it towards his target, nailing the assassin in the face.

He retaliates by kicking Matt in the gut and elbowing him in the back. Matt winces in pain, his back injury from the other day hasn't fully healed.

Matt does a front flip hitting the assassin on the forehead and uses him as a spring board to bounce back a few feet.

Both fighters now take a stance and circle each other slowly.

"Bullseye."

"What?" Matt asks.

"That's me name. Bullseye," the Irish assassin reveals with a childlike excitement.

Matt, still not easing his fighting stance then asks, "Why the hell are you telling me that now?"

"Just thought it'd be courteous, tell you the name of the man who's about to whoop your arse," he said subtly pulling out a small knife from the back of his belt.

Matt hears the metal slide into his hand and ready's his wooden club cum stick to defend himself.

Bullseye then throws the knife towards Matt's face, the teen narrowly blocking it with his club, the knife embedding itself it Matt's weapon, cracking the wood in the process.

Matt charges the assassin again, this time removing the knife from his club and throwing it at bullseye's shoulder. The assassin effortlessly catches it, but that's what Matt wanted.

The vigilante then repeatedly hit Bullseye in multiple vital points with his club and his fist, using some kicks to throw bullseye off balance. Matt could feel the wood hit his body and it felt like beating a hollow drum.

This onslaught continued for over a minute, bullseye barely covering himself to negate the damage. Matt then delivers and almighty strike to the assassins knee, the impact sending a shock through the teen's arm, he expecting it to drop bullseye to the ground.

To Matt's surpris,e he found himself reeling from some sharp pain, a deep cut across his shoulder. He instinctively grabs his wound. Bullseye then makes a stabbing motion towards Matt's chest, using his club Matt hit's the assassin's wrist, reducing the force of the attack, the knife barely breaking Matt's skin.

Bullseye then hits Matt with the back of his hand and gets him into a hold, the knife just an inch away from Matt's throat. The teen struggling to stop the knife, then does a flip to the right, twisting his entire body, and by extension Bullseye's arms, loosening his grip on the blade. Matt then kicks the knife away from the assassin and goes in for a body shot.

Matt goes for a palm strike, delivering a clean hit to Bullseye's sternum. But Matt is surprised once again. He didn't hear any ribs break. Instead, it only seemed to knock the wind out of the assassin.

Before the teenager could register what happened Bullseye grabs Matt by the shoulder and squeezes, his finger tearing his wound further open.

Matt lets out a gut wrenching scream and goes for Bullseye's wrist, trying to shatter it like he did to Roscoe. But Matt could barely move it. His suit didn't seem to give way.

'What the hell is he wearing?' Matt asked himself.

Bullseye pushes his finger further into Matt's wound, making the teen scream even louder as he feels his muscles tearing.

Matt head-butts the assassin in a desperate attempt to escape, hitting him straight in the unarmoured chin.

Bullseye's head whips back, his hand moving from Matt's shoulder. Matt using this opportunity to deliver many blows to Bullseyes chin. But the assassin never lowering his guard, letting his armoured arms absorb all the blows.

Matt's head feels light, the blood loss taking effect. Seeing the vigilante slow down a tad, Bullseye punches Matt in the shoulder.

The teenager's entire arm feels numb, his legs seem to be failing him. He tries to hit Bullseye once more but collapses into the arms of the assassin. Bullseye simply chuckles.

'The little one's wearing black pyjamas and uses a couple sticks for weapons. But he bruised me through my armour.' He thought to himself.

He gently placed Matt to the ground and takes out a medical kit from his belt and throws it towards the fallen vigilante.

"This ain't weakness lad, if yer wondering. It's an investment," he said picking up his fallen knife from the ground. "If you survive the next couple years, yer gonna gain quite the rep. Powerful folk would pay well for yer head. I kill you now, I'm probably wasting a few million," he states cleaning his knife.

He turns towards Matt and tilts his head, "Also, some professional advice. Ditch the black shirt and trousers look. Ya don't wear any armour, all it takes is a lucky bullet to end ya."

Bullseye jumps down onto the next building, leaving Matt to wallow in a puddle of blood.

* * *

Using the med kit, Matt stitches up his wound and puts a dressing over it. He then meditates for a half hour to calm his nerves before he starts tracking this supposed 'Bullseye.'

Matt was furious, not only did this guy kill Roscoe instead of him but managed to beat him in a fight. Plus he had a kind of armour the 14 year old had never felt before, and he's worked with most of them. His mentor, Kato made sure of that.

The teenager felt a pang of guilt as he remembered his mentor, he was meant to meet him at midnight, only two hours away. Kato wouldn't approve of Matt's actions. Hell he abandoned his mother to the side of the road to chase down her attacker.

He should be with his mother, she survived the murder attempt after all.

But rage filled Matt once more as he remembered how The Fixer strangled his mother. Bullseye took away Matt's chance for vengeance, he'd pay for that.

Bullseye used some kind organic deodorant. Probably for the scent he worked up in that suit of his. Luckily for Matt it left quite the trail for him to follow. Matt traversed across the roof tops slower than usual, thanks to his injured shoulder, but he couldn't stop. If Bullseye skips town that night he'd have no leads to follow. He'd never know for sure who hired The Fixer to kill his parents.

But Matt had his suspicions.

Matt could hear loud club music around two miles away, and the scent led straight towards it.

The vigilante perched himself atop the roof to the club. He was near the glass roof of the club's centre. Despite the loud music blaring like a sick elephant, Matt could hear the distinct static that accompanied an ear piece.

Guards, at least a dozen by Matt's count. All armed.

Matt tries to zone in on the chatter, trying to drown out the immense background noise. The conversations were conventional to stay the least. Talks about drunk patrons, crappy salaries, how hot the girls at the club were. But one conversation stood out to Matt thanks to one keyword.

"Bullseye."

"Can't believe the boss didn't let us off Sweeny," one of the guards said enviously.

The other scoffs, "You really aren't too bright, huh?" he says rubbing his head. "If the cops trace one of us guys to Fixers death, he's screwed. That lawyer chick was already hot on our tail. Last thing we need is more attention."

Matt memorises each of the guards' heartbeats as he hears the two talk. 'Where's Bullseye?' we wonders to himself.

The familiar sound of a blade piercing air enters Matt's ears as the teenager turns around and catches the knife.

"What part of ' _future'_ investment do ya not get?" the Irishman asks rhetorically, emphasising the word future. "Well, I figured that yer not the type to listen so I stuck around the building next door, not sure how ya missed me."

Matt scolded himself mentally, he forgot to check for Bullseye's heartbeat, rookie mistake. Matt took his sticks out, ready to fight once more.

Bullseye sighs but readies himself as well.

Matt charges at the assassin, swinging his baton overhead. Bullseye sees it coming and ducks under it. The assassin tackles Matt to the ground, but the younger fighter manages to kick him off before Bullseye could deliver a blow.

Both fighters get up but Matt's quicker hitting Bullseye in the head repeatedly. The fourth blow makes Bullseye stumble, but he retaliates with a few hooks, all parried by Matt using his baton.

The exchange continues but Matt's superior reach with his batons gives him the advantage. But Matt's swings where slower when he used his injured shoulder. Bullseye grabs Matt's wrists during one of his slower attacks and disarms him, grabbing his Batons mid-air.

Bullseye uses Matt's batons to attack him but the teenager jumps in mid-air, extending his legs out and hitting the assassin in the head again.

As Matt lands on his feet, Bullseye delivers a low kick to Matt's thigh, making him fall backwards. Bullseye charges at Matt and hits him square in the temple, making the vigilantes ears ring. Matt grabs a nearby pebble and throws it at the assassin to try and distract him. Bullseye blocks it with the batons, giving Matt valuable seconds to kick up back onto his feet.

Bullseye runs towards Matt screaming, hitting him in the temple again, but Matt grabs him by his feet making both fighters fall to the ground.

Both combatants are concussed and injured but Matt didn't take as many blows to the head as Bullseye so he scurries towards Bullseye, before he can fully recover and hit's him in the back to the head.

The Irishman uses the batons as support to get up off the ground and he makes his way towards Matt again, hitting him in the shoulder and head-butting the vigilante.

Both fighters move away from each other, their brains swelling and feeling like their muscles will explode. But Bullseye notices that his opponent has his back towards the glass roof of the club.

He launches himself at Matt but the teenager sidesteps the attack and delivers a jab at Bullseye. With his back towards the glass roof, Bullseye starts swinging at Matt, both fighters exchanging punches. Once they got into a rhythm Matt switches the pace by ducking a right hook and delivering a reverse elbow to Bullseye's nose, breaking it.

Matt then goes on the offensive, throwing an uppercut and a straight right towards the Irishman's face, each blow making his head bounce back.

He delivers more and more punches to Bullseye's neck and face, his armour only doing so much to soften the blows. No barely a foot away from the glass roof Bullseye sees no other option. He grabs Matt by the neck and trips him up onto the ground, the teenager grabbing Bullseye pulling him down as well.

They fall onto the glass roof, shattering it falling 20 feet to the ground below.

Matt lands on top of the assassin, but he's unarmoured so receives almost as much damage.

He rolls off Bullseye, bleeding on top the shattered glass. The club music still blaring but it's drowned out by the sound of blood gushing out of Matt's many wounds, and the sound of glass penetrating his flesh.

Matt feels something come towards him.

Footsteps, and some familiar heartbeats.

The guards.

Thanking God that he memorised their features before Bullseye attacked him Matt tries to get up. But his legs are twitching, and his shoulder numb. His head is ringing like a church bell and he has no weapons.

But Matt hears something wooden roll towards him. One of his batons. Matt reaches out and grabs it, despite the pain his muscles where feeling and uses it to prop himself up.

His radar sense now amplified by the radio waves that saturated the club gave him a clear 'view' of his surroundings. A large figure was barrelling towards him, raising a fist. Matt feels it move towards the air and ducks.

Even in his injured state, he was faster than these clowns. Plus their punches may as well be in slow motion compared to Bullseye.

Matt then hits the guard in the temple with his baton, knocking him to the ground.

He hears a pistol being drawn and goes under a table for cover. The guard open fires, causing the patrons of the club to run in a panic. Fortunately for Matt, they were all in the lower floor of the club and they were slowing down the other guards.

One guard comes towards the table Matt was hiding under only to have it slammed into his face as Matt flips it over his head. Matt grabs the guards gun and slams it into his neck, knocking him out.

Two more guards point their guns at him but Matt throws the gun he held at one guard's nose, breaking it. He then hides behind a pillar and waits.

The vigilante bangs in his shoulder, using the pain to keep him awake, despite the blood loss. He hears the guard walk towards him.

Matt uses his baton to hit the guard's wrist and subsequently his chest, breaking a few ribs. The other guard whose nose he broke earlier was about to shoot till Matt threw his baton at his weapon, disarming him and the baton bounced back off the wall back into Matt's hand.

Before Matt could finish off the guard a sharp pain entered his legs. The glass was embedding itself deeper into his body, he'd die if he didn't get out of this quickly.

"There he is. Get him," a female voice, a waitress Matt assumes, informed the remaining guards on Matt's position.

'Can't move. Come on legs work,' he chanted in a frustrated manner as he heard all the guards converging on him.

"What are ya waiting for ya bastards, get him," an Irish voice said on the intercom.

Bullseye.

'Must've escaped to the office room while I was dicking around with the guards,' Matt deduced.

But before he could think any further he was tackled to the ground by a large, fat guard. The others jumped atop him, dog pilling the vigilante. Matt's lungs where burning, he was losing blood and air. Fast.

Matt slowed his breathing, and calmed himself, trying to conserve oxygen. He managed to gain enough energy to move his arms again and attacks.

He grabs one guard by the crotch and pulls, hearing a ripping sound as he rolls back in pain. Matt then picks up a shard of glass and stabs another guard in the eye, making him back off. He shatters one guards collar bone with a strike of his baton.

Matt, now running on nothing but rage and instinct keeps maiming the guards till they all got off of him. He blocks all oncoming attacks and responds as brutally as possible. Each response more painful than the last.

The bloodied vigilante hears a bottle being swung towards him, he raises his forearm to defend himself, but the bottle shatters. One of the shard cut's his lip and the alcohol burns all his open wounds.

Matt takes a second to raise his shivering hand to his new cut. His lips scream in anguish as he screams in rage.

He punches his assailant straight in the neck, then he slams them into a nearby table.

'CRACK!'

* * *

The sharp noise echoed across the club as the person who attacked Matt falls to the ground lifeless doll.

Matt shakes his head. His rage dissipating as he realises what he'd done. He rushes towards the person and places their head on his lap.

The heartrate, scent. It was a woman. Probably the waitress that alerted the guards.

Matt felt her lungs collapse as she struggled to take a breath. Her throat completely seized up and her body tense.

She was struggling to live.

Matt was panicking, he couldn't let her die. He wouldn't.

"Stay with me alright, you're fine just stay with me," he said, tears streaming down his face.

She grabbed his hand tight, the colour draining from her skin.

Matt heard her heartrate slowly level out. She was slipping. Her previously tense body was relaxing, her lungs resting. And the hand she had placed within Matt's, let go completely. Matt felt every organ in her body shut down.

He felt her die.

And it was his fault.

The sounds of police sirens came into Matt's ears. But he didn't respond. He hadn't dared to do so. Matt would take the blame for her death. He had to.

He heard the chatter on the police radio's. Talk of a masked man abusing the staff of Walter Kovac's club.

Matt cradled the dead woman's body, feeling the warmth leave her corpse.

He didn't want to move.

He didn't want to do anything.

He just froze.

But he couldn't stay idle for long. A familiar set of footsteps walked across the roof.

The police chatter was stopped. Matt could hear their wind shield shattering and the cop's hearts stopping. Someone was killing them.

Matt carefully placed the girl on the floor and closed her eyes. He took off his glove and placed his fingers over her ID card.

Her name was Mary.

He let Roscoe die.

He let an innocent woman, Mary die.

He will not let anyone else die on his watch.

Matt heard Bullseye finish up above, he was walking down a set of stairs to a room. He could hear the static of an intercom in the room.

He limped his way towards it as he heard two heart beats. Bullseye's and someone else's.

"The cops dealt with?" A Bostonian accent asked the master Irish marksman.

Bullseye twirled a knife in-between his fingers. "They weren't a problem. That guy in black though. He's a tough son of a bitch." He said taking off his gloves and having a sip of whisky from a liquor cabinet.

The man with the Bostonian accent looked at the state of Bullseye's armour. "Guess that armour Melvin fitted you with worked?" he stated more than he asked.

"Like a charm," Bullseye stated looking back at his employer, 'Big Figure.'

'He's a midget. Taking orders from a Midget. Aw well, at least the pay's good' Bullseye thought as he considered the diminutive employer.

Matt had heard enough, he limped his way towards the office room and opened the door. No time for stealth.

Before he could raise his arm, Matt suddenly hit the ground as his legs gave in.

Both Big Figure and Bullseye looking at the fallen vigilante with a dumbfounded look. "So, this guy gave you trouble?" Big Figure asks Bullseye, amused by Matt's current state.

Bullseye walking towards Matt just shrugged. "Having a bad night is all." He replied.

Noticing Matt was still awake Bullseye picked him up and dragged him towards Big Figure. The dwarf looks at Matt with some curiosity.

"So you're the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, thought you'd be taller," Big Figure said, chuckling at his own joke.

The papers gave Matt a name. But he never acknowledged it. Thought it wasn't accurate. But even half dead Matt now sees that it was quite fitting.

Bullseye hands Big Figure Matt's Baton.

After inspecting the weapon, Big Figure Hits Matt on his cut lip. The wound getting even deeper. Matt didn't make a sound, much to Big Figure's disappointment.

"Tough guy, huh?" he said. He Matt in the mouth again. And again. And again. Till blood coagulated and leaked down from Matt's face onto the floor.

Big Figure took out his phone and made a call to his head of security.

Matt notices the buzz of a security camera in the room. There where security camera's all across the club. Matt just didn't notice them before thanks to the noise of the club.

After cutting the call he grabs Matt by the face. "One of my Guards took out the security camera on the floor you crashed into. But I saw enough. You're brutal. You're fast." He let's Matt's face go and grabs a bottle of water and splashes some of the liquid in Matt's face.

Matt struggled to breathe in hid drenched black mask but refuse to show it. Bullseye still holding him in place.

"But you go after small fry. Purse snatchers, robbers. Why come after me?" he asks, slapping Matt in the face.

Matt raises his head and whispers, "C… .e..,"

Big Figure comes closer, "Didn't quite catch that."

Matt whispers again, "Come closer."

The Dwarfish Gangster humours him more and inches closer to Matt's face. "Didn't hear y.."

His sentence was cut short by Matt head-butting the gangster. The teenager screams out "You killed cops, you hired an assassin to murder Roscoe Sweeny. YOU KILLED JACK MURDOCK! WHY?" he asked enraged, Bullseye struggling to hold him back.

Big Figure stumbled back up and touches his nose. He was bleeding too.

"Well you've got stones I'll give you that much. Brains on the other hand. Not so much," he said taking out a silk handkerchief and whipping away his blood. "Any idiot who read about the trial would know why Jack and Miranda Murdock needed to die. Roscoe was a liability, he has been for years, so he had to go too. And those other cops. Well, those sirens are just plane annoying." He stated without a hint of remorse.

Matt had heard enough, he noticed that bullseye was bare handed this time. So Matt opened his jaw and bit Bullseye's thumb.

The assassin let Matt go and cried out in shock and pain. Matt lunged at Big Figure but Bullseye kicked him to the ground. The vigilante rugby tackles the marksman to the ground but couldn't grapple with him thanks to his injuries.

Matt grabs Bullseye's belt buckle and finds a trigger, he clicks it and the utility belt comes off of his waist. Matt, belt in hand hits Bullseye in the face and runs towards the office window.

"I got something special for you, lad!" Bullseye says under his breath as he removes a small blade from his boots and throws it at Matt.

Matt subconsciously twists his body, making the small blade narrowly miss his spine.

Shards of glass burrowed in his body once more. But he couldn't rest to tend his wounds. He needed to run. He couldn't beat Bullseye the way he was now.

He needed help. He needed….

Kato. He'd come to one of the safe houses at midnight.

"You better not have moved anything old man."

* * *

 _ **Hells Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st, 2009:**_

Matt reached the safe house at 11:12 PM.

Luckily for him, Kato didn't move any of the old equipment.

Matt got straight to work. He took off his clothes and got out some medical equipment. He extracted all the glass shards he could, but the ones in his back were tough, to remove to say the least.

After 40 minutes of wincing and a lot of trial and error, he finally removed even those shards. All that remained was the small blade lodged in his back.

Matt simply reached back and pulled out the blade, gritting his teeth to deal with the pain. The teenager stitched himself up, quite poorly mind you and bandaged his wounds.

The one on his lip was inflamed. He went to treat it but a burning sensation spread across his face. The sound of Mary's heart stopping filled Matt's ears.

Matt hit himself in the head. "Stop, just stop it." He said to himself, sterilising his cut lip.

With enough meditation and rest, most of his cuts wouldn't scar, with the exception of the one on his shoulder, courtesy of Bullseye, and the one on his lip. Given to him by Mary.

Mary.

He couldn't get that feeling out of his head. The feeling of death. The way all her organs just failed and her body shut down.

Tears rolled down Matt's face.

He thought of his dead father, his injured mother and Mary, the woman he killed.

"AARGGHHH," Matt screamed as he raised his fists in the air.

A giant bell rang in the background. A church bell. Saint Peters.

Midnight.

'Where's Kato?' Matt thought as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Kato?" Matt asked, his throat dry from the day's excursions. Matt panics as he walks out the safe house and scans the area with his senses.

"Kato?" he cries out again, hoping for a response.

After waiting for a half hour a sudden realisation came over Matt.

The teenager dropped to his knees and balled his eyes out.

"Kato, please. Don't leave me alone. Not tonight," he pleaded. To his mentor, to God. To anyone.

But no one replied. Leaving the Devil of Hell's Kitchen alone. With only his guilt to accompany him.

* * *

 _ **Unknown location, Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009:**_

"I trained that boy for 7 years. And in the course of one night threw it out the window," an old voice stated. Kato knew of what transpired. And he felt great disappointment. But not towards Matt but himself. 'Perhaps the boy was never meant for this war,' he thought.

A large man besides Kato then chose to reply, "We have lost many during this war. And if Stick is correct, only 3 people have been born in this generation with the skills necessary to join our inner circle. Elektra has already fallen to the enemy. Can we really afford to lose the boy?" Stone, the large boulder of a man asks his peers.

Stone turns to Kato, "Hiroshi," he greets Kato by his first name. "You said that the boy has the most natural talent out of any fighter you have trained. Considering that Richard Dragon, Lady Siva and The Bat of Gotham have been your disciples, that is quite the complement."

Finally, the man in the centre speaks.

"Just cus the kids got more talent than those guys. Doesn't mean he's better." The leader of this group of individuals stands on his feet.

"We're fighting a war," he states. "We lose people we care for all the time. If the kid reacts like that to loss then he's a loose cannon."

"Kato, you taught the kid to use his other senses. Just like I taught you, so maybe he might useful in the future. But as of right now, he's fucking useless to the chaste." He states as he extends a blind man's cane.

"The Hand are coming to New York gentlemen. Until then this is all we got," Stick the blind leader of the chaste states as he senses the movement of his army above him.

Kato turns away and mutters under his breath, "Good luck, Mathew."

* * *

 **And that's that.**

 **Sorry it took so long to update but real life is kind of a bitch.**

 **Don't worry, the next chapter won't take so long to upload. (Hopefully)**

 **Yeah, I made Matt kill an innocent person in rage. But like his origin in "Daredevil: The Man without Fear" he does it after a group of people attack him. I personally think it makes more sense for a hero to value life after they witness it's fragility. In this case Matt feeling an innocent person die in his arms.**

 **Yes, Elektra will be in the fanfiction eventually. (And he'll join the team but he needs his year one story over and done with first.)**

 **And yes Bullseye wrecked Daredevil in their first fight. But Matt's only 14 at this point and in the comics Bullseye beat both Black widow and Elektra hand to hand. So cut Matt some slack.**

 **As always, follow and review. I'll catch you later.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Reconciliation:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Sunday, October 6th, 2009:**

"Just when I thought this was all going to get easier, I see you in my arms," Matt whispered as a whither of mist escaped his mouth. The cold air drying his lips and stiffening his healing wounds.

The teenager places some flowers near the grave he spoke to, their scent filling his nostrils.

"When you died, I remember smelling a hint of rose flavoured perfume. So I thought roses might be um…appropriate?" Matt said, struggling to find the words that accurately described his thoughts.

He stands there for a moment. Silent. Hearing all that's around him, the grass blowing through the wind, the tapering of the ant's near an unmarked gravestone, an elderly man coughing, and a grieving couples heartbeats.

Matt gives a pained smile. "Most of these guys are here, grieving for family, for friends, for people they loved and held dear. But you. I'd never met you before that night. And it would have been best if you never did."

The young teen places his fingers over his lips, his fingers tracing the faint scar bestowed upon him by the woman in the grave.

"This burns," Matt said, gesturing to his scared lip. "Every single time I get angry, every time I feel some form of regret. Every time I remember what I did to you that night it burns." Matt hisses as the sensation reaches his scar again.

"I've had deeper wounds. Larger, more obvious scars. But none of them hurt after the wound healed. Even the one bullseye gave me. My shoulders a bit sore but the scars themselves don't hurt."

The teen kneeled onto the ground, almost genuflecting. He places his hand on the gravestone, tracing his fingers over the name carved in it.

'MARY WALKER.

Beloved Daughter

And

Niece

1990-2009'

"Mary. I think this scar might be God's way of reminding me of my sins. The pain's my cross to bear," Matt said, his Catholicism bleeding out into his speech.

Matt makes the sign of the cross, readying himself for what he was about to do.

"I killed you, Mary. I wanted to find the men responsible for attacking my parents. But my vengeance and anger blinded me. Truly blinded me." He states, repeating the words that he went through in his head over and over again.

The teenager chuckles, his heart racing, "You hear these heroes give these speeches saying 'I won't kill', as if we should be thankful for that virtue. But when you're backed into a corner. When your emotions run high all morality goes out the window," Matt says with regret.

"When fighting for your life, you get careless. You act as judge, jury and executioner." The vigilante states.

"I'm not God. I don't have the right to take someone's life."

"Anyone's life."

"I'm not worthy of to dispense that kind of judgement."

Matt traces his hand over Mary's name. "I will never kill. I can't make that choice. I don't care how angry I get, how tempting it becomes. I can't kill. That mindset throws innocent people like you in the grave."

The teen stands up his light scar on his lip still burning. He spends some time standing in front of the gravestone, the wind blowing through his hair as the cold made his body shiver.

He takes one last sniff of the roses he brought. The scent reminding of that fateful night and his promise.

Matt extends his cane and starts his walk home.

His brother is waiting for him.

Mark Murdock, Matt's adopted brother, the man set to be the next world heavyweight champion of was many things. But a financier wasn't one of them.

His bouts in the ring garnered him a great deal of cash. Cash, for the most part, that was spent quite lavishly, much to his mother's and girlfriend's dismay.

Fancy suits, expensive watches, lavish dinners in restaurants, pretty much what you'd expect a moderately wealthy 20-year-old to do with his money. The only noble expenditure that Mark ever made was his large contributions to the Heritage for the blind charity in Brooklyn. But right now all the fancy watches and suits couldn't do the boxer any good.

Right now he needed money.

Lots of it.

After all, hospital bills don't pay themselves.

'Mom's in the hospital,' the African American man thought to himself, going through the doctor's report, his eyes red and dry from the hours he's stayed awake for the past couple weeks.

When the 'Fixer' shot at Jack Murdock, glass from the car flew everywhere. The doctors found a shard lodged in Miranda Murdock's lower back. The fact that The Fixer almost strangled his mother to death, along with the physical trauma she went throughput too much strain on her body.

Miranda now lies in a coma.

Mark puts his hands over his head, breathing heavily as the stress makes his heart jump like a toad. 'Dad's gone. Mom's in a coma,' he repeats in his mind. Still not coming to terms with that reality.

Mark sighed as he paced around the wretched old apartment he was now residing in. He and Matt moved to an old apartment complex to save on rent. The running water doesn't work half the time, the neighbours are noisy and Matt swears that the floorboards have something rotting under them.

"Our family's savings might have been enough for a few month's rent at mom and dad's place, but keepin' mom alive is the priority." He says to no one in particular.

Mark snorts out a smile as he remembered Matt pointing out the only positive out of this situation. "At least dad made you my legal guardian in his will," Matt said with a half-hearted smile two weeks ago, trying to lift their moods.

The young man stood still. His father's old punching bag was still in a box for storage. He can still hear the sound of his fists pounding the stuffed bag. The sound of oak hitting steel.

Jack Murdock was famous for his ability to take a punch, even as a cop. But he sure could dish out punishment when he needed to.

Mark's nostalgic trip was interrupted by thought. A thought that's been plaguing him for many nights the past two weeks.

'Where the hell are you Matt?' He thinks to himself as he walks into his adopted brother's empty room.

* * *

Matt waits patiently on the top of their new 'home'. Honing in on the position of his brother's heartbeat. Not because he wanted to know where he was but because that's the only thing he could do to drown out the constant noise.

The guys on the ground floor have a Rottweiler that barks every time someone moves. The guys on the second floor had some sort of weed farm which Matt busted after beating up the occupants with his one good arm. The people on the third floor, well whatever it is they were doing to each other, the entire street could hear.

Thankfully Matt and Mark's neighbour on the top floor wasn't so bad. He played music a bit too loud sometimes but at least it was better than the others.

People close to the two offered temporary residence.

The brothers stayed in Clair's, Mark's nurse cum girlfriends' flat for a few days till they found the 'palace' they currently stay at. But her place was far too small for the three of them. Ted Grant, Mark's boxing coach offered to let them stay at his gym, but Mark didn't want to stress the old world war two veteran too much.

Even Britt, Matt's best friend offered him a place to stay. Britt who's the son of the millionaire, newspaper owner Britt Reid Sr, the former green hornet begged Matt for days to let them stay at his mansion. But Matt didn't budge.

But the mansion was too far away from Hell's Kitchen. And he still had unfinished business with some people here.

Matt hears the familiar sound of springs staining under a great weight. His brother's asleep on the couch. It was 7 o'clock in the morning. Matt routinely visited his father's grave after he died. Never talking, just standing. Trying to remember everything about him.

He finally got the courage to go to Mary's grave. To confront her about his guilt. His promise.

Aside from the weed dealers in the apartment, Matt had stayed off vigilante work for the past two weeks. Not just to heal from his wounds but due to his guilt.

The guilt of not being able to save his father.

His mother.

Mary.

Matt shakes his head. He needed to get back on the streets. Every night he doesn't people get hurt. The teenager runs towards the edge of the building, leaping towards the next one. He feels the air rush past him as he leaps over a water tank and vaults over to the corner of the next building. His breathing was not laboured, his heart steady.

The blind teen always enjoyed flying across the rooftops. Well, jumping and flipping but to a blind kid who can only feel with his other senses, he may as well be soaring through the air.

Matt's momentary feeling of bliss ended as he heard the sound of metal slicing through the air. For a moment he panics, he scans the area. He feels for footsteps, he checks for the scent of bad deodorant, the sound of metal jingling along the waist.

The teenager sighs in relief. It wasn't Bullseye.

Matt finds the actual source of the noise. A man holding switchblade against a woman's throat. The teenager moves without thinking, he grabs a piece of cloth that was left hanging out to dry on the roof he was on and covers the top of his face.

He leaps down to a nearby ledge, his feet against the concrete. He angles his body in a split second so that his next leap lets him land right next to the would-be killer.

The woman who was being held at knife point yelped in fear, as the man just stared at Matt with a blank expression. The criminal then gripped his switchblade harder, Matt hearing his fingers stretch across the handle.

The criminal was barely Matt's height, but weighed 30 pounds more. A fact Matt exploited as he casually side steps the man's clumsy attempt to slash him.

The man then rushed the vigilante again, pushing his knife forward. The masked teen responds by grabbing the man's wrist and twisting it, making him drop the knife.

Matt pushes the criminal to the ground, "Go, run!" he says to the woman he was defending as he held the man by the throat.

The teenager makes his hand into a fist, and pulls it back. The criminal looking at it with fear in his eyes. Matt brings down his fist to hit the man's face but hears the distinct sound of metal slicing through the air.

"Don't kill him!" the woman exclaimed as Matt stopped his hand an inch away from the man's fist. The woman held the knife and was aiming it at Matt.

Matt looked at the woman in confusion, "What the hell are you talking about?" he asks, his voice deepening to mask his identity.

The woman looks at Matt, her hands shaking as she holds the knife. "You….you killed those cops at the club. You snapped a girl's neck. Everyone knows that," she says as her voice breaks between words. Fear emanating from every breath she took.

"Please," she pleads, "Don't kill my husband."

The teenager freezes. He listens for the man's heartrate. "Is she telling the truth, are you two married?" he asks, squeezing the man's throat further.

"Yeah," the husband croaks out.

"Damn slut cheated on me with the butcher, I…I got mad you know," he says, the words barely audible. But his heart rate was steady. He was telling the truth. Matt lets go of the man and kicks the knife out of the woman's hand. "If you ever threaten her again. I'll know about it," he says directing the threat to the husband.

The couple look at each other for a moment and as they turn their heads to where Matt was. To their surprise, he was gone.

* * *

The Fogwell boxing gym has been abandoned for years. The gym lacked funds and the necessary equipment to train world class fighters. Even if a potential champion walked in they would be scouted out and poached by bigger, more established gyms.

But to Matt, it had one quality that no other gym in Hell's Kitchen had.

Privacy.

It wasn't as if the gym was located in some desolate area of the city. It's just that people never give it a second look. Besides, there were old heavy bags and boxing gloves that were just begging to be used.

Matt sometimes came here to let off some steam. The scent of his father's old training grounds, the sound of the seams of the bag straining with every punch, the feeling of his knuckles pressed against the wraps. For some time he could feel like he was truly at peace.

But not today.

The sounds of Matt pounding the heavy bag echoed across the modestly sized gym. With every hit, every time his fist hit the leather, he was reminded of his failures.

The sound of his father's skin blistering in the fire.

Matt throws some punches again.

He remembers his mother, on the pavement gasping for air. Shaking his head he increases the speed of his blows. Trying to drown out the noise in his head. But to no avail.

The sound of metal cutting through air reaches his ears. The feeling of his flesh being torn open by the blades of an assassin. An Irish accent goading him to fight. Bullseye.

He can't get him out of his head.

Matt further increases the frequency of his punches, the skin on his fists peeling back with every hit despite the wraps and gloves.

The voice of the woman moments ago begging him not to kill her abusive husband. The sting of alcohol burning his wounds. The sound of an innocent girl dying in his arms.

"AARGGHH, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he screams at the top of his lungs, throwing a violent right hook at the bag, causing it to burst in the centre sending pounds of sand all over the floor, the bag itself being launched over 30 feet in front of Matt as the chain suspending it from the roof snapped.

Matt twitches his head and sighs. "So much for confessing your sins Matt," he said to no one in particular, taking a gulp of water from a canteen he found in the gym.

'That's 4 bags you blew up today,' he told himself mentally. The teenager, still breathing heavily from the exercise walks towards the dusty old ring in the corner of the gym. He stops when he feels the presence of multiple cylindrical, leather-bound objects on the floor.

Matt picks up another bag and slings it over his shoulder, grunting slightly at the effort. He hooks it up to where the previous bag was. He holds it in place to make sure it didn't move and began punching again.

He hears the screech of the rusty hinges on the door as it swings open. Matt hears a set of footsteps come towards him but elects to ignore it, still pounding away at the bag. Suddenly a set of arms wraps around him, pulling him away from the bag.

"Kid, stop. Jesus, you're sweating like a pig, calm down!" The voice said as Matt struggled against the hold this person had on him. The teenager kept squirming, growling like a dog trapped under a tarp.

He attempts to walk forward but is stopped once more, the grip the man had on his body not loosening, "You've been at this for hours now, you need to stop, STOP!" the voice behind him shouted. The noise penetrated Matt's enhanced hearing enough to shake him from his daze.

The teenager breathed heavily, the muscles in his body loosening as he placed his weight against the man behind him. "Officer Blake?" Matt asked, recognising the heartbeat.

The police officer replies with a simple, "Yeah," before turning Matt around and placing his hands on top of the gloves. This causes Matt to wince slightly as the padding of the glove and the bandages rubbed against the damaged skin of his knuckles.

Office Blake sits Matt down on a stool, passing him the canteen of water that was near the bag as he looked for something to cut the gloves off. He found some scissors in the office room and starts to remove the gloves.

Warm, red liquid seeps out of the gloves onto the floor after he takes them off. Blake slowly removes the wraps that surrounded Matt's hand, the teenager twitching slightly as cold air strikes his open wounds.

The site made Blake's eyes widen in surprise.

Matt's hands had swollen profusely, looking like they have been inflated. His skin was now warped into a grape-like purple colour, and blood was slithering down his injuries.

"I'm taking you to a doctor."

Matt remained silent throughout the journey to the hospital, only giving brief answers to the nurse when talked to. He remained silent for the majority of the journey back home. He was trained to be silent for hours on end if need be.

But he could sense Blake's uneasiness, his father's former partner kept glancing in his direction. His head tilting towards Matt's fresh bandages on his knuckles.

Plus, awkward silences weren't especially enjoyable to anyone.

So after much trepidation, Matt utters, "So….Um…you gave a nice speech at the funeral." Matt slaps himself mentally, ' _Yeah, a great way to break the tension,'_ he thought sarcastically.

Blake gulped after that statement. "Yeah, well. I only knew your dad for a couple weeks but, you know, he taught me a lot, so…." The young cop said, letting the silence linger for a few seconds longer.

Matt turns his torso towards the officer, "How'd you find me anyway?"

"Oh, well after you ran off your brother called. So I drove around a couple blocks till we got a noise complaint at the old Fogwell Gym," he explained. "Your old man told me he used to be a boxer in that gym back in the day. So I had a feeling you might be there and you were."

Matt nods in understanding, "Jesus, hope Mark's alright."

The young police officer glances at Matt again, after stopping for a red light. "How long were hitting those bags?"

"I dunno," the teenager replied. "Maybe, around 4 to 5 hours."

Blake's eyes widened again. He wondered how a teenager managed to hit a heavy bag for that long, ignore the pain of his skin being literally peeled off from his hand and still have the strength to struggle against a larger adult.

"Can I tell you something?" Blake asked. Matt simply shrugs in response.

"I knew guys in my old unit in Afghanistan, back when I was a soldier." Blake tapped his fingers along the steering wheel, trying his best to word what he was saying as carefully as possible.

"You see a lot of stuff. Real bad stuff. Friends getting shot, kids getting blown up, and well…..you get the picture," he said, not wanting to go into too much detail on the gory horrors of war.

Blake then smirks, "We used to feel scared a lot of the time. We never showed it but it was an unspoken truth."

"Guys don't tend to talk about what they feel, you know. We feel like it's somehow shameful to actually feel something after being part of some tragedy," Blake said, lamenting on his former brothers in arms. Remembering how so many of them lost themselves to depression and PTSD.

Blake then looks at Matt sympathetically, "I know this sounds really preachy and clichéd but there's nothing wrong in talking about what you're feeling." Matt simply replied with a small nod.

Matt could hear the tires of the old squad car squeal as the young officer applied the brakes. He could hear the random mismatch of voices throughout the building they had just parked next to. They'd reached their old apartment.

Blake got out of the car and opened the door for Matt, gently grabbing onto his arm, guiding him onto the sidewalk.

"If you ever need to talk to someone, about anything, don't hesitate to call. Alright?"

"Sure," Matt said half-heartedly, somewhat thankful that Blake didn't scrutinise him too much about running away. Though Matt suspected Mark would be doing the bulk of that.

The two stop as Matt heard a familiar heartbeat and scent, waiting for him at the doorway to his crummy apartment.

"I'll just leave you guys alone," Blake said as he removed his grip on Matt when he was close enough to the steps of the doorway.

"Thanks, office….Thanks, Blake," Matt said, correcting himself the last minute.

Matt waited for him to leave, listening for the rubber of the tires moving away from his location. The teenager started rubbing his hands together softly, soothing the pain.

"Hey, Matt."

The young teen smiled slightly as he heard the first soothing voice of a rather dreary day.

"Hey, Lakshmi," he responded, taking a step forward to the young Indian-American. "How long you been standing here?" he asks, noting how late it had become, the heat of the sun almost below the horizon.

Lakshmi put her hand over Matt's, her heart pounding intensely. "Your brother called me and Britt after you ran off. That cop came to my house like an hour later," she said, concern dripping from her voice.

She brushed her thumb over Matt's bandaged knuckles, taking a step closer to the injured boy.

Matt started to breath heavily.

All the guilt he was holding up inside him, rising to the surface again. His hands start to tremble, his nostrils flared open and his eyes and cheeks scrunched up.

He felt guilty simply because Lakshmi was there for him. The scar on his lip started burning again.

He was a murderer, a broken fighter, a monster.

'What did I do to deserve someone like her?' he thought.

Matt remembered what Blake said about his friends in the army. About how they repressed their feelings. He needed to go back to fighting crime, he needed to stop Big Figure and Bullseye. And he couldn't do that if he was an emotional wreck.

Suddenly, and not for the first time today Matt felt someone's arms wrap around him. But this time he didn't resist. He couldn't. Not with her.

He wrapped his arms around her, and let the salty tears drop from his eyes as he cried into Lakshmi's shoulder.

In this one moment, for the first time in many weeks, Matt didn't feel any pain.

He felt grateful.

* * *

 **Midtown High, New York, Monday, October 7th, 2009:**

Matt was exhausted on his first day back at school.

After him and Lakshmi got back to their senses, they called Britt so that the three could have go on a night out. Like they used to.

Granted bowling wasn't the best idea for a school night considering one of the players was blind and had injured their hands and the other had bad aim.

Except for Britt.

He managed to score a strike with every throw, annoying Matt and Lakshmi to no end. Both the teenagers trying to outdo the millionaire, but failing at every turn.

They'd played multiple matches that lasted well beyond midnight. They only stopped after Matt 'accidentally' tripped Britt over with his cane, causing him to essentially throw the ball towards the ceiling, breaking a few lights in the process. Which Britt had to pay for.

All in all, it was a fun night.

Too bad it was followed by History class.

"So, let's talk about the Nixon tapes. All of you read their chapters? Good!" the teacher said, droning on and on about the Watergate scandal.

Matt tried to focus his enhanced hearing elsewhere but the only other things to listen to was the usual high school drivel of gossiping classmates, couples cutting class and moaning dissatisfied teachers. So Matt brushed his hands over his brail textbooks, letting his mind wander.

"Initially Nixon decided to destroy the tapes. Perhaps if he had it would have saved his seat in office," the teacher continued as a few students zoned out of the classroom, whilst others leaned forward in anticipation. "What did you student's think of the former president after hearing the tapes?"

"The dude liked to swear!" one student said, garnering a few chuckles from his friends.

The teacher suppressed a chuckle herself, not expecting the response. "Very good, anything else?"

"He seemed paranoid," Lakshmi said.

Then Britt shot his hand up in the air, eager to participate in the only class he actually listened to. "If he was so paranoid, why the hell did he record so much of what he said?"

"Excellent question Mr Reid. Anyone want to take a shot at answering that?" the teacher asked, her hand placed on her hip.

Matt remembered the buzzing of a Camera in Big Figures office. Recording everything that happened between himself, the gangster and Bullseye. The sound of the dwarf-sized criminal and his condescending tone made Matt's eyes widen in realisation.

"The crook thinks he's untouchable," he muttered barely loud enough to hear.

The teacher clapped her hands together in joy, "Well done Mr Murdock. Thank you for the response."

Matt leaned back in his seat, cracking his bandaged knuckles.

'I know how to beat you, Big Figure,' he thought to himself as he prayed to God he'd do the right thing this time.

* * *

 **Been 3 whole months since the last chapter.**

 **I was wondering whether or not to have Matt exact his revenge against Bullseye and Big Figure but decided that we needed a quiet chapter for some character development.**

 **Unfortunately, I didn't originally plan to have a quiet moment. And thus I have experienced writer's block for the first time.**

 **Anyways, So I'm going to try to upload a chapter once a month, maybe more.**

 **We'll see what happens.**

 **Anyways, send in your reviews. Feedback is always helpful.**

 **See you guys later as Daredevil fights Bullseye in their first rematch.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Retribution:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, October 7th, 2009:**

Matt had been looking down on the club from the rooftop of a taller building. The young vigilante was perched on the edge for over two hours, staying in place, never moving. His black outfit concealing him.

He had resisted the urge to itch his arms and torso an unknown number of times.

Taking Bullseye's advice, he taped small ceramic tiles he found on a bunch of rooftops onto his forearms, chest, and back. He also wore hand wraps made of rope on top of studded biker gloves. Which, as Matt puts it was 'appropriated' from his brother.

On top of the tiles he taped to his body, he wore the usual form-fitting black shirt and added some cloth padding to that. Stuck once again by tape. This was concealed by a baggy black hoodie.

To top it all off, on his waist Matt wore the utility Belt he stole from Bullseye in their previous fight.

Luckily for Matt, it was adjustable, and he sneaked into shop class at school to solder some parts of the unlocking mechanism of the belt. To make sure only Matt could take it off. He had to remove some of the more dangerous objects like shrunken, darts and kitchen drawers worth of knives. But he thought he could use the more blunt projectiles to his benefit. Plus he could holster his two wooden clubs much easier in this belt.

The makeshift armor was lightweight and barely made any noise. Well, any noise that a normal person could detect anyway. But it was extremely irritating to his skin, his enhanced sense of touch didn't help matters seeing as though he could feel every little blob of adhesive expand and contract against his skin.

But never the less he stood still. A black blob moving across rooftops would be pretty conspicuous, plus Kato taught him that when people see only what they expect to see when staying still people's minds usually fill in the blanks and hide any irregularities. So staying still was the best way to do some recon work on the club.

Judging by all the chatter going on, security has been tightened. Big Figure was in The Bronx, talking to an arms dealer apparently.

Matt memorized all the guards' heartbeats, their vocal patterns, and their routines.

With the exception of the bouncers, the guards shift positions every 15 minutes. After Matt heard them follow their routine for the fifth time he started listening for the security cameras.

After memorizing the location of all the cameras the young vigilante starts following the sound of electricity flowing from their power cables within the walls.

He followed the familiar hum till he located where all the cables lead to.

The lower basement of the club.

All the data recorded by the cameras were stored in onsite servers below the club itself.

Matt did some digging online and asked Lakshmi indirectly about how data was stored by cameras and other devices. After listening to a load of technical drivel he barely understood he heard a piece of information that he found pertinent.

The data for many institutions was backed up on physical drives as well as cloud databases.

Matt simply had to remove all the drives, place them in his belt and leak the right information to the right sources.

Somehow.

'We'll figure out how a blind kid's going to leak a video online after I break into and escape the club,' he thought to himself as he analyzed all the entry and escape points of the club.

His goal was to reach the lower basement and the quickest way to the basement would be through the front door and down the steps. Seeing as that would be suicidal Matt immediately dismissed the plan.

Another option could be to enter the kitchen undercover and go through to the lower basement that way but Matt didn't hear any of the kitchen staff's footsteps even go close to the stairs that would take him there. Besides, the only way he could get a Kitchen staff's uniform would be to knock out one of the poor people on their smoke break outside.

Matt shook his head, 'That will never work,' he thought to himself. He slowly turned his head to the left as he heard rusty hinges grind against wood. With his radar, Matt could interpret a figure opening and enter into a cellar door at the back of the club.

"Cellar must have been used during prohibition," Matt said under his breath, the hint of a smile entering his face. He listened for footsteps along the cellars corridor.

'6 men, carrying handguns judging by the scent of the gunpowder and 2 guys walking towards the server room in the lower basement,' Matt surmised.

The only way for the guards to reach the cellar and the lower basement would be the narrow staircase from the ground floor of the club. That would funnel them, forcing them to enter one at a time.

After weighing the options Matt decided that the cellar door would be his best bet.

Matt removed a small container that was holding some oil and applied a few drops to the rusty hinges of the cellar door. He cringed slightly as the doors still strained after being closed behind him.

After being reassured no one heard him he inched his way forward, trying his best to drown out the roaring music and unbalanced footsteps of the club and its patrons on the floor above him.

Matt placed his hand against the wall next to him. There was a room behind it, judging by the echoes behind it. He slid his hand across the wall as he crept his way forward till he heard the sound of running water.

'Looks like I found the bathroom.'

He heard two people walking around in the bathroom. One was in about to enter the urinal and the other was washing his face. Matt entered, slowly swinging the door open. He walked slowly behind the man in the urinal and grabbed him in a rear naked choke, punching him in the solar plexus, causing him to lose his breath even faster.

He slumped to the floor, Matt dropping him down gently to avoid any unnecessary noise. Not that the other guy could hear anything over the music and the sink filling the basin up.

The other man was still washing his face, whistling what sounded like the national anthem but was so off tune Matt thought he might as well be listening to a parrot screeching. The young vigilante walked behind the whistling man and grabbed him by the throat, dunking his head in the now filled sink basin, drowning him.

Once he was out of breath, Matt pulled him out of the water and punched him in the throat. Knocking him out instantly, with Matt grabbing him as he fell and placing him on the ground as quietly as possible.

Matt noticed a slight breeze coming from the other side of the bathroom. He walked towards it and realized it was another door. He listened for heartbeats and found that 4 men remained at this level.

He could also hear the humming of the servers more clearly now as well. He opened the door and walked cautiously along the corridor, behind a guard whose back was turned away from him. Matt removed one of his clubs and strikes him along the temple, knocking him out. A set of footsteps start coming to his position from the junction at the end of the corridor.

He hears the static of the guard's earpiece.

" _Kzzt_. Is the cellar clear?" a man said from the control room, cursing the fact that there weren't enough cameras in the old cellar.

The guard touched his earpiece to reply, "Yes. Sir."

He walked to the end of the junction to take a right turn, but when he did so he froze at the site of a person dressed in black. That moment's hesitation was what Matt was counting on as he quickly placed his hand on the guard's mouth and shoved him against the wall.

The guard instinctively grabbed Matt by the arm, leaving his body completely open. The teen struck him in the liver with his left knee and then bashed his head against the wall. Knocking out this guard as well.

Matt noticed an empty knapsack a few feet away from the guard, an open lunch box next to it. The teen shrugged as he slugs the old knapsack across his back, moving his body around to see if it made any significant amount of noise.

After deciding that it did not, Matt made the choice to take the bag with him to pilfer the drives, thinking that Bullseye's belt may not be enough.

Two sets of footsteps were heading towards the basement, where the servers were being held.

Matt walked up behind them, grabbed both by their heads and smashed them together. Knocking out the two guards at once.

The hum of the servers was almost deafening to Matt as he inched closer to its location. He strained himself in order to try and listen for any sign of someone being down there.

He detected the smell of gunpowder and figured that there would be only one guard down there.

The guard in question was standing in front of the doorway that leads to the servers. Matt knew his only chance would be to rush him before he could alert the others. Matt threw his baton down the stairs, ricocheting off the bottom step and into the guard's sternum.

His hand went to his chest only for the wind to be knocked right out of him as Matt push kicked him into the open doorway of the server room. The guard put his hand to his holster as he tried to get up but Matt kicked him in the face and took the gun away from him.

He lifts the guard towards his face by the collar of his shirt. The teenager snarls as he readied his throat to deepen his voice.

"You know what I did to your buddies the last time I was here right?" he asked rhetorically as he tightened the grip on his collar. The guard nodded.

Matt smirked, "I knocked the other 6 guards out to get here. I broke a lot of bones and I won't hesitate to break yours. If you wanna walk after this conversation you'll do exactly as I say. Understand?" The guard looked at him, not even blinking once. He could tell by the masked man's tone that he wasn't to be trifled with. He nodded again in affirmation.

The teenager put his thumb to the man's throat, "You're gonna take all the hard drives that store the video footage of these cameras in the club record. You do that and put them in this here knapsack. You understand?" The guard nodded again, he'd been posted in this location for so long that he was an unofficial maintenance man for these servers. Big Figure even paid him a little extra for those services.

Matt was puzzled. The man's heart rate was increasing but not to the extent he expected. The guard of scared, but most people are absolutely terrified when Matt just looks at them the wrong way.

'He's way too calm. Why is he …..'

Then it dawned on Matt. He focused his hearing behind him as he heard the whir of a security camera looking straight at him. Its sound was completely overshadowed by the servers that Matt hadn't noticed it till now.

Not wanting the guard to realize that he had screwed up, he ordered him to get on with the task at hand. The guard's hands shook as he removed the drives, as slowly as possible from the large electrical apparatus in front of him.

Matt was getting anxious. It was difficult for him to track everything around him with all the background noise. And on top of that, the guard was stalling. He was about to kick the guard in the shins to make him move faster till he felt something cut through the air.

The teenager leaned backward as a blade missed his neck. He was briefly relived but his heart sank as he realized that the blade pierced the guard in the heart.

"Ya know lad, when Kovacs told me that you'd be coming back one day, He thought you'd come in guns blazing. But no. You sneak in all ninja-like, knock out half a dozen guards without anyone noticing and come down here, acting like you're Batman or sommit like that," an Irish accented man said with the utmost glee in his voice. A voice that made Matt's blood boil.

"Bullseye."

"Devil."

The two opponents stare at each other for some time. After a few moments, they start circling each other, trying to psych each other out.

"Did Kovacs hire you to kill me this time? Or was it just that guard?" the teenager asks.

The assassin rubbed his hands with excitement, "He hired me to take care of any problems. T'was pretty much implied that I'd be getting rewarded handsomely for taking you out," the Irishman said, the glee in his voice never wavering.

Matt tried calming himself down. The nerves were getting to him, he was being aggravated just by standing near this living piece of human garbage.

But Matt knew he couldn't win if he fought with blind instinct and rage. He needed to be smart. And he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

The teenager subtly removed a spherical object from his belt and dropped in on the floor, engulfing the room in a grey smoke. The fire alarm in the basement goes off as the sprinklers on the roof shower water down onto both fighters, dissipating the smoke.

Bullseye kept turning around on his own axis, his eyes darting around the fading smoke as he tried to find out where the first attack would be coming from. He took a metal handle from his own belt and pressed a button, a blade flicking out of the handle.

Matt threw his remaining baton at the source of the noise but Bullseye saw it coming as it moved the smoke around it and lifted his hand up, the cylindrical weapon harmlessly missing his body.

But his head was turned away from Matt, the teenager knew this and ran towards the assassin. Bullseye blindly swiped at Matt's chest but he sidestepped the attack, grabbed him by the waist and threw him towards the ground. Water splashed all over the two as the sprinklers hailed down droplets of water on them.

The two fighters get up. Bullseye stabs forward, Matt twists his torso to dodge. The assassin holds the hilt of the blade with both hands and drives it forward with the full force of both his arms. Matt forms an 'X' with his for arms and raises them to intercept the assassin's wrists, preventing the knife from stabbing him.

Bullseye delivers a knee to Matt's side and moves forward, throwing the younger fighter slightly off balance. He uses his other knee to strike upwards into Matt's chin. The teenager pushes Bullseye away and delivers a classic one-two boxing combo, blocked by Bullseyes shoulders, the armor softening the blows.

The assassin straightens his arm and swipes the knife sideways, aiming for Matt's head but hits nothing but air as Matt ducks underneath the attack.

Bullseye clasps the knife with both hands again for an overhead stab but Matt knows that it's coming and delivers a quick uppercut to Bullseye's jaw. He then grabs his right arm and twists his elbow by contorting it behind the assassins back.

He yells in pain but shakes his arm free and stabs at Matt again, once again missing thanks to Matt's leaning back.

Matt throws a left hook but Bullseye employs a right elbow block. The blind fighter knew that he needed to beat Bullseye hand to hand, but he wasn't going to do that if the knife was still in play.

He let his guard down on the left-hand side, basically inviting Bullseye to attack. He delivers a kick to Matt's left side but he ignored the pain he felt and charged forward, water splashing around with each step.

He once again grabbed Bullseyes arm and tried to break it by twisting it down.

Not wanting his arm to be broken, the slightly older fighter used the downward motion of the attack as a safety harness and rolled into a ball and flipped forward in the same direction as Matt's twisting motion. Rendering the attack useless.

Matt started analyzing his surroundings, the water showering down on him was making things sound so blurry. But he could feel a wall behind him. He needed to use it to his advantage.

Before Bullseye could swipe at him again he grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him against the wall, causing the Irishman to fall to the floor. He spits a mixture of stagnant water and blood from his mouth and got up again. Cracking his knuckles.

He hadn't had this much fun in weeks.

Bullseye stabbed at Matt again but Matt used the wall to his advantage again as he grabbed Bullseye's wrists, leaped onto the wall to his right and used the momentum to twist both his and Bullseye's bodies around as he ran across the wall for a split second. Both fighters lose their footing due to the water on the floor and they slip, Bullseye dropping his knife.

Both fighters lie on the floor. Exhausted from the flurry of punches, kicks, dodges and stabbing attempts. Matt could feel the ceramics under his clothes crumbling and bruising his skin.

The cuts on his knuckles reopened and his hands felt like they were on fire.

He needed to end this fight and fast.

Both of them struggle to stand but manage it by grabbing onto what they could. Matt throws a punch but Bullseye ducks underneath it and tackles Matt to the ground. He rolls on top of the teen and begins to choke him.

Matt bangs his hands against Bullseye's but to no avail. The assassins armor made any attack less than a knockout blow tickle at best. Matt then reaches for a small tile that fell from his suit.

He smashes it against Bullseyes knuckles, one of his least armored areas causing him to loosen his grip due to the pain. Matt kicks Bullseye off and both fighters get on their knees, fighting again before either could stand up.

Both men throw a flurry of punches, water droplets flying all over the place as they do so. Bullseye and Matt throw punches at the same time and knock each other to the ground once more.

Matt's ears start to ring.

He barely feels the concrete on the ground, or his broken 'armor' digging into his bruised skin. He could only sense the water in his nostrils and mouth, entering and exiting with every labored breath.

Bullseye sees Matt on the ground and crawls towards his knife. When he reaches it the metal scrapes against the ground. The noise reminds Matt of a bell in a boxing ring.

"Dad," he says softly. Spitting out some water.

Matt could hear the faint sound of stumbling footsteps in the water near him.

"When your opponent can barely stand he walks like a drunk bum. When he walks like that, you know he's on the ropes. When he's like that you know you can win." That not so eloquent phrase was drilled into Matt and Mark since they were kids.

Bullseye swayed back and forth, trying to get his bearings as he tried to reach the black mass of blood and beaten flesh on the floor. Matt thought that the Irish assassin was walking like a "Drunk bum," as his father would put it.

Matt slowly pushed himself off of the floor, ignoring the aching in his muscles.

'He's on the ropes dad. Can't give up now,' he told himself as he propped himself up seconds before Bullseye threw his knife at him. With no time to dodge Matt raises his left arm to block the knife. The padding he added there barely stopped the blade and it cut through his skin.

Bullseye, remembering that he had an entire arsenal of blades pulls another one out of his belt.

He rushes Matt and stabs straight at him, but Matt was ready. He used moved his elbow into Bullseye's arm and pushed it away and delivers a strong straight right to his jaw, making the assassin stumble backward.

He stabs again but Matt sidesteps the attack and pushes him to the ground, almost falling himself.

Bullseye gets up and attacks Matt, who dodges it by somersaulting over his arm, increasing the distance between the two by a few feet.

When Bullseye swipes at Matt this time, the teenager parry's the attack and deflects his right arm back to his body. But the assassin reversed the grip and drops the blade, catching it with his left hand.

Matt tilts his head as he hears this and jumps backward as he narrowly escapes a swipe to the belly. The change in stance left Bullseye right open, letting Matt grab his arm and flipping him over his head with a judo throw.

The teenager twists the wrist he currently held in his hands, breaking it.

Bullseye squealed in pain as the crack could be heard over the roaring downpour of the sprinklers. Both fighters are on the verge of collapse. But only one was currently crippled.

Matt puts his on his chest to catch his breath. "It's over," he growled out. "Just give up," He pleaded.

Bullseye looks at the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, a certain level of respect could be seen in his eyes. "Ya wouldn't give in now would ya?" the Irishman asked rhetorically.

As he looked up, Matt wasn't there anymore.

He heard something to his left, but before he could turn Matt head-butted the assassin in the nose and drove a fist into his jaw.

Matt felt the man's jaw-breaking against his knuckles. And it felt amazing.

He leans against the wall, so he wouldn't collapse on the floor next to the unconscious Bullseye. The young vigilante let out a sigh of both relief and disbelief.

He won.

He beat Bullseye.

He took a minute to get himself composed before he remembered why he was here.

"The hard drives!" Matt exclaimed.

He limped towards the knapsack. The dead guard had removed only a handful of the drives. Matt had to remove the rest. As he struggled to remember how exactly it was the guard had removed the drives, the sprinklers suddenly stopped.

Matt, struggling through the pain in his head could hear well over a dozen heartbeats converge on his position. All the heart beats were accompanied by the static of earpieces and the smell of gunpowder. He heard that all the exits were being locked and that more of Big Figures private security detail was on the way.

He sighed as he started removing the drives as quickly as he could.

"This is gonna be a long night."

* * *

 **10 minutes later:**

"God, Christ, man!" the man exclaimed as he realized he was the last one standing. All his co-workers and friends had been taken out by the vigilante.

He was hiding behind a pillar as he heard gunshots in the room behind him. Gunshots followed by the sound of someone heavy falling onto the floor. He was trembling, he knew that he was the last one. The last obstacle towards the back door.

By the time the vigilante came out with his knapsack 30 men had been detailed to take him out.

30 highly trained, armed men.

And 10 minutes later there was only one left.

The guard trembled as he struggled to reload his gun, his magazine slipping out of his hands. As he reached down to pick it up the light above him bursts. He screams in shock as he runs out of cover. But the moment he does something hits his knees and they buckle. He then falls face first into the floor. Falling unconscious instantly.

"You're lucky to be fat," the vigilante said as he removed picked up the small, blunt, metal weapon from the floor. "You've got a lot of padding on the way down."

At this point, Matt was literally dragging his feet across the floor to reach the exit. He was placing his palms along the walls for support since his entire body felt like it was pounded into minced meat by Superman. His hands had swollen up so much that he was sure they had been infected somehow.

The knapsack containing the drives was safely slung on his back. His posture was now akin to that of a camel, his skin absolutely soaked from sweat and blood. Most of which wasn't even his.

Matt could hear all the club patrons screaming and running out the main entrance of the club. Gunshots tend to do that.

The teen patted his knapsack hard.

"You better be worth all this," he said to no one in particular, wondering how the hell he was going to find and send the right footage.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Tuesday, October 8th, 2009:**

Matt stashed some extra clothes, his laptop and his brail keyboard and headphones on a nearby rooftop near his home.

He spent the best part of 5 hours combing through the footage of the drives at 4 times normal speed. His enhanced hearing allowed him to monitor what was being said at that speed without too much strain. By the time he reached the footage that was recorded during the week he first broke into the club, it had been past midnight.

What was difficult was navigating so many files with a brail keyboard and headphones. A very slow process to operate a computer.

Matt had to hit himself in the knife wound he sustained from Bullseye so that the pain would keep himself awake and more importantly conscious. Despite that opening his messy, self-administered stitches.

He was about to throw his laptop over the rooftop in frustration till he heard a particular line.

"YOU KILLED JACK MURDOCK!"

It was what he said to Big Figure the night his father died. The night Matt had killed Mary. The teenager rubbed his hands through his hair and took a deep breath.

"Got you."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Tuesday, October 8th, 2009:**

Britt Reid Sr was a workaholic by nature.

Even during his time in the 80's as the superhero, the Green Hornet he tended to push himself far too much when trying to follow a lead.

It was 5 o'clock in the morning and the Newspaper owner had entered his building 4 full hours earlier than his employees. Even his secretary only arrives at 8. Even though he was too old to fight crime he still liked to keep in shape, working out for 2 hours each day in his private gym on the top floor.

He was a man of history. His boardroom and office contained many artifacts. Including a full suit of medieval English knight's armor, a terracotta warrior, various swords and spears, paintings and pots.

Britt Sr believed that history was a very important thing for people to learn. To appreciate what we have today.

The former Green Hornet had seen a lot in his lifetime. He'd seen men turn themselves into plastic, sex trafficking, drug rings, president's fall and aliens who had the power of gods.

Now the aging man rubbed his knees as they ached slightly after climbing up the stairs. "Getting old," he said to himself.

He and his former partner Kato could fight off warehouses full of criminals without a scratch back in the day. Though Kato did most of the fighting, Britt Sr was more of a negotiator and a detective. That's not to say he was a poor fighter. Far from it but he knew that there were better ways to fight injustice than just with kicks and fancy gadgets.

Britt Sr thought he'd seen it all. Thought that nothing could surprise him anymore.

Well, that idea was thrown out the window when he noticed that the front door to his office was slightly opened. He could feel that something was off the moment he entered but decided to act normally. 'No need to show whoever it is that I know they're here,' he thought to himself as he made his way to his front desk.

He wasn't sure what to expect but a box with a note saying, 'Look at me' wasn't it.

The former hero reached for his handgun that was placed in a hidden compartment of the desk, but when he reached for the weapon, it wasn't there.

"I took the precaution of taking away any weapons you've hidden around here," a deep voice said to his left in fluent Japanese.

Matt decided to speak to Britt Sr in Japanese in case he recognized him by speaking English, seeing as though they have met briefly before at his son's birthday parties.

The older man looked at the source of the voice with some curiosity.

He was shrouded in shadows, his face barely visible. But what stood out was the bandages that adorned various parts of his body, namely his forearms and chest. All were freshly wrapped.

"Seems like you went through a lot of trouble for whatever this is," he told the vigilante stoically in Mandarin, pointing to the box on his desk.

Matt smirked, "Nice to see your language skills haven't diminished," he replied, changing his language to Mandarin.

The teenager was somewhat excited, despite all his muscles feeling like lose flaps of skin he could barely contain his excitement. He was talking to the real Green Hornet, his mentor's ex-partner. About hero stuff. Well, Matt hasn't gotten to that part of the conversation yet. But he'll get there eventually.

"Pleasantries aside kid, mind telling me what's inside the box?" he asked in Mandarin, humoring the young hero.

Matt pointed to the box. "That contains a confession from Big Figure about his involvement in hiring both Roscoe Sweeny and an assassin named Bullseye to murder a bunch of cops and a lawyer," he said, refraining from using any names.

"Does it now?" Britt Sr asks rhetorically. "Bullseye was arrested a few hours ago. According to my sources, he hasn't said a single word to the cops, and you just waltz in here with proof of his and Big Figures guilt."

"You have a lot of nerve breaking in here." He opened his arms in a show of mock exasperation, "How do I know you aren't part of some competing power trying to gain control over a power struggle when the dwarf's gone? Why should I even believe a single word your saying?"

Matt sighed. He knew that Britt Sr wouldn't blindly trust the word of a masked vigilante with a dubious reputation. But there was one way to show him that Matt was trustworthy.

The young vigilante takes a step forward and says two words.

"Black Beauty."

The older man's eyes widened slightly. The Black Beauty was the name of the car he and Kato built together to fight crime back in the 80's. It was also a code word they'd use when they went undercover.

He took a look at the face of the vigilante before him. The top half was covered in some sort of black cloth. His lower half was uncovered but was hidden in shadows. No doubt to hide any major features. But there was one thing the vigilante couldn't hide. The lack of razor marks on his face.

He's never shaved before in his life. Judging by his speech patterns and the fact that he's obviously depending his voice he'd have to be a teenager. 15 maybe 16 years old.

Matt was usually assumed to be older than he actually was when wearing the suit, so he was hoping that coupled with him being concealed in the shadows would help mask his identity.

"I heard rumors that Kato had taken on an apprentice. But the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Wow, I never expected that" he said chuckling to himself as he sat back down in his seat.

He takes a look at the package and unwraps it, revealing a disk.

"I assume the relevant video footage is inside this?"

Matt nodded, he'd checked the disk 8 times before putting it in the package.

"I'd tell you to stay out of this business kid but if you can take this kind of punishment and still want to continue, I can't stop you," the former hero said, stroking his chin.

Matt nodded again and walked towards a window.

"Before you leave, let me give you a few pieces of advice. One, get some armor, real armor. It's expensive but there are people on the streets who can make some for you. Two, Try and get an inside man from the NYPD. Having a cop help you on your mission can help immensely. Trust me. And finally, choose a better name than 'The Devil of Hell's Kitchen'. It's too long. You need something catchy and memorable, helps spread your reputation a lot better."

Matt shrugged his shoulders, "You work on a paper, make a name up yourself," he said half-jokingly.

Britt Sr looked down at the tape, "I'm sure I probably cou…." When he looked up the vigilante was gone. "So, you do the disappearing thing too?"

The former Green Hornet rubs his temple, "Well, this is going to be interesting."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, October 7th, 2009:**

Officer Blake has been relegated to desk duty for the past few weeks after Jack Murdock's death. The reason stated is that he needed a mourning period. And Blake hated every second of it. He only knew Jack for a few weeks but he respected him and wanted to be doing something to bring the man responsible to justice.

Blake was brought back to reality as he spilled hot coffee all over his shirt.

"Ah great!" he exclaimed.

He walked towards his desk to get some tissues till he noticed that there was a DVD case with a note saying 'PLAY ME.'

Blake looked around confused. "Hey Julia, you see who put this here?" he asked a neighboring officer. "Nope," was all she said for a reply.

The young officer put the disk into his computer, just to see if it was a prank or a clue for some case.

After a few minutes, Blake sprinted to his captain's office. He finally had the proof he needed.

Matt had taken the second part of Britt Sr's advice to heart. He trusted Officer Blake to an extent and gave a copy of the disk to him. With both the press and the cops on Big Figure it'd only be a matter of time till he was exposed and arrested.

The vigilante was currently hopping, or more accurately traipsing over rooftops to reach home. He could finally put this nightmare behind him and take at least a couple of hours rest before school.

'Argh. My arm's swollen now. How am I going to explain my injuries this time?' Matt asked himself. The teenager ignored that pain, "I'll deal with that when I deal with that."

Matt shimmied his way down the wall to the windowsill of his room. All he wanted now was fresh clothes, a shower, and some peace and quiet. He opened the window, which he lubricated with oil a few nights before to make it slide open and shut without making much noise.

He stretches his arms out and yawns, 'I should pat myself on the back. The bad guys will be going to jail, made a couple allies, I'm not nearly as injured as last time, aside from the fact that my knuckles are pretty much worn out. Justice is served and I'm home,' the teen thought to himself in a congratulatory manner.

Matt takes peels off his mask and throws it onto his bed. 'Face it, Murdock, things could have gone a lot worst.'

The sound of cups and plates breaking behind him brought Matt back to reality.

"What the fu…." a deep voice bellowed out from behind the teenager, making his skin crawl. 'Didn't check for his heartbeat. Why do you forget to the most basic shit when it really matters?' he scolded himself mentally.

Matt slowly turned around and raised his hand next to his face meekly and waved. After trying on a smile he awkwardly said, "Hi bro."

'I am so screwed.'

* * *

 **That's a wrap. Well, hopefully, the fights were to your satisfaction. Took a while to write down.**

 **Also, I decided to have Mark find out Matt's identity early on since it would be a bit illogical for him not to figure it out considering he's be taking care of Matt much more carefully now.**

 **Matt will be joining the team in 2 chapters.**

 **I've got the next one written already and will be uploading it in a couple weeks and let's just say he's going to meet some important people in the DC universe.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Devil's Knight:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Friday, November 13** **th** **, 2009:**

"Yes my child, awaken. Awaken to the reflection of your true self," a whiny, male voice instructed her in an almost fatherly way. Snorts interjecting in between some words. She struggled to open her eyes, they felt as if a 10 pound weight was attached to them. She tried moving her lips to speak but to her shock she could not. It was as if they were stuck together by hot wax.

She heard heavy footsteps walk towards her. A rubber gloved hand caressed her cheek, making her shudder. He snorts again, the noise reminding her of a pig, "How unfortunate. This little piglet has some nerve endings that have yet to perish." The footsteps moved away from her as he fiddled with some levers and buttons on a nearby control panel.

The metal platform she was laid upon started to raise up as she attempted to move her arms, but she realised her arms and legs have been restricted by some sort of bonds. Not that it mattered. She could barely move a muscle.

A bright light flashed before her eyes, making her squint. As she struggled to open her eyelids once more she was greeted to a horrific sight. A person, vaguely humanoid with their mouth missing from their face, their skin bleached white and their hair missing. The person in question looking more like a mannequin than a human being. But they were androgynous. She couldn't tell whether the person was a man or a woman.

Then a realisation struck her. The person she was looking at was herself, she was lifted in front of a mirror.

"Forgive me little one. Not everyone who undergoes the procedure reacts as Pyg expects them to," the man said as he moves the mirror to the side. Tears start flowing down the womans face, dreading what this man would do to her next.

He snorts again, she opens her eyes, trying to scan the room for an escape route. But her eyes could only focus on the grotesque figure in front of her. The man was overweight, his gut extending below his waist. He wore a white t-shirt and a butchers' apron, the pouch attached to it adorned with an assortment of knives. His hands were covered with white surgical gloves but his most striking feature was his face, hidden behind a ceramic pig mask.

He removes a syringe from his trouser pocket and a small bottle of a clear liquid from a nearby table. He pierces the bottle with the needle and fills it with the liquid, releasing a small hiss as air escaped the bottle.

He takes her arm and inserts the needle in a vein, releasing the drug into her system.

A shallow snort escapes from the man, making the woman think that the man in front of her was almost crying. "You could have been so beautiful. Pyg would have done anything to make that so. But alas that did not come to pass."

The woman's vision started to blur. She was losing consciousness.

Pyg noticed this and hurries towards an old record player in the back of the brightly lit room. He removes a vinyl and places it in the record player. After the record scratched for a few moments violin music started to play. Then an orchestral melody followed. A loud booming voice accompanied the music but not from the record, but from Pyg.

'Every creature deserves to listen to true music before they die,' he thought to himself as he danced in harmony with the music. Every note he hits sending shivers down the woman's failing spine.

Her eyes gave in. Blackness entering her vision. She loses the feeling in her skin. All that was left was the music.

Then. Nothing.

* * *

 **A few hours later:**

"We ID the suspect yet?" Blake asks the forensic analyst who was packing up his kit.

The older man sighed, "No such luck I'm afraid. The victims fingerprints have been burnt off with acid, and their teeth have been replaced with a ceramic substitute so dental records are out."

Blake rubbed his forehead. New York is famous for it's serial killers, well up until Gotham started spewing out insane maniacs like bad candy. But he's never seen a victim as terribly mutilated as this one. Skin bleached, teeth replaced, mouth sealed shut, torn apart by accident when the body was hoisted down and any physical characteristics that showed their gender removed.

Similar bodies with the same M/O turned up over the past couple weeks. But none of them were so, for lack of a better term, clean.

The forensics scientist took some saliva and blood samples to be analysed later at the lab. Blake felt his phone vibrate. He unlocked it and opened his messages.

" _ **GET RID OF THEM! - DD"**_

Blake ensured that all officers left the crime scene and put his phone away. "Why am I doing this?" he asks himself. "Because you need me!" a deep voice said from a shadow in the corner, making the young cop jump in fear, his hand instinctively going towards his gun.

After seeing the source of the voice he eased up, raising his hands up in a peaceful gesture. The figure in black exited the shadows. Matt made few changes to his costume, holstering some metal batons instead of wood and having some extra padding underneath his black shirt and hoodie, making him look a bit bigger.

"I got your message, officer."

"I kinda figured that one out. And it's detective now," Blake replied. For the past month him and Daredevil had been feeding each other information, trying their best to put as many criminals behind bars as possible. They decided to exchange numbers both parties buying burner phones, thinking that it would be more convenient than sending vague messages to each other.

After Matt gave in the evidence to convict Big Figure, other factions have been trying to take his vacant territory. The Big Three, The Japanese Yakuza, The Russian Bratva and the Bertinelli's were being smart. Slowly encroaching on the new turf, With the Bratva acting as brokers for the other two to buy properties in the area. But the smaller gangs, the Cubans, Irish, Jamaicans and Vietnamese were filled with young impatient men.

Small turf wars were instigated, only stopped by the combined efforts of Matt and Blake, directing the police to the required locations, Matt's senses being crucial in that aspect.

Blake's Captain suspects that he has some connection to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen but decided not to berate him for it. Instead promoting him to detective. Blake doesn't know that his former partners son was a vigilante. He was smart but no one would think that a blind kid could fight off assassins and gangsters single handedly.

Matt removed some disposable plastic gloves and put them on his hand, taking off his usual studded combat gloves. They were thin enough that it wouldn't impede with his ability to sense his environment with his fingers and would make sure he didn't contaminate a crime scene.

He ran his hand over the victim, Blake noticing that the masked fighter twitched his head slightly as his hand went over the victims head. Matt's nostrils flair open and he gets up.

He takes off his disposable gloves and puts his normal ones back on. "The victim is female, in her mid-30's, she has a tumor in her brain and judging by the perfume she had on must have been pretty wealthy." Blake stood still, unmoving.

"I'm sorry, how do you know that?"

Matt scratches his nose, the scent of bleach and acid irritating his enhanced sense of smell. "Her sweat has a distinct scent of oestrogen. Judging by its intensity the woman had to be in her mid-30's. Her brain was slightly swollen, but not due to trauma. This kind of swelling usually occurs with a tumor and her perfume is the kind that high end lawyers like to wear."

Blake shrugs his shoulders, forgetting that Daredevil had abnormally better senses. "I'll let the team know, hopefully it narrows down our search. The opera music. You recognize it?"

Matt shakes his head, "No. I'm more of a Mozart guy myself," he said trying to add some humor to the situation. Before Blake could respond, Matt places his finger on his lips.

"Shh! Hear that?" Matt asks the young detective as he scans the area for the source. He hones in on a soft humming. "Rotary blades? A helicopter. No, smaller. A drone maybe," he said quietly, barely a whisper. "We're being watched. Small drone, around a block away. Does the military have infrared cams on drones?" Matt asks the former veteran.

"Yeah, but they're expensive. Rarely used. Think the killer's monitoring his work?" Blake asks.

Matt shrugs his shoulders, indicating that he doesn't know. The drone starts to move away.

"I'm following it. Call me if anything comes up!" he says. Blake turns to talk to him but by the time he does, Matt disappeared. "God damn ninja."

Matt struggled to follow the drone. It was maneuvering through the buildings of Hell's Kitchen like a spider on its web. Squeezing through spaces that he couldn't. But Matt had a 360° awareness of his surroundings. He could tell what the optimal route for the drone was and followed it accordingly.

After 10 minutes the drone finally stopped.

Matt was a few buildings away from it, wondering why it stopped. 'Was I spotted?' he asked himself. The answer was provided by a noise a block away.

Opera music. The same at the crime scene. Matt could tell where the drone's cameras were pointed at thanks to his RADAR sense. He entered the building, confident that he wasn't spotted by the drone yet. Matt heard someone talking. A man, with a deep gravelly voice.

"Alfred, this is the 4th body to turn up in New York. Same M/O, we can confirm that it is definitely him," he said, his tone of voice never changing, every word dripping with experience and authority.

The man pulls a device from what Matt assumes is a belt and injects it into the body. After about a minute, he pulls it out and raises his wrist towards his face, Matt detects some electromagnetic radiation being emitted from the gauntlet. 'A holographic projection? What is this Star Trek?' he asks himself.

"Blood tests reveal that the cause of death was due to an overdose of painkillers, leading to cardiac arrest. As expected the victims fingerprints have been burnt off with acid and their teeth replaced with artificial replacements. What's odd is that the victims DNA seems to have been mutated," the gravelly voice states as he takes a look at the victims mouth and hands.

Matt heard another voice, this time from a communicator, probably stuck inside the man's ear, Matt deduced. "A rather unsavoury demise," a Posh British accent says, with a tired tone. 'These guys must have seen a lot of bodies,' Matt thought to himself.

"I'll have to do a deep tissue scan to get further details regarding the victims identity," the man said as he turns the holographic display off and puts his finger the side of his cowl. A buzz enters Matt's ears.

'These guys are far too high tech, who are they…?' The young vigilante restrained himself from lunging at the large man, curious as to what he would find out about the victim.

"A birth defect on his left ear. Looks like the result of minor ear agenesis. Also there is a wedding ring inside his small intestine. Further scans indicate that there is an inscription on it. 'Ophelia', probably the victims wife. Judging by the state of his liver, he was an alcoholic. Cirrhosis set in a long time ago."

The man removed part of the patient gown the victim had been wearing. "Scar tissue at the hip, judging by the incisions made he must have had a hip replacement recently, judging my the rate at which the tissue healed. There's one man in Hell's Kitchen who fits the criteria in Hell's Kitchen. Anthony Lang." He said after accessing the cities hospital records.

"Alfred," he said referring to the British man. "Victim's name is Anthony Lang, formerly married to Ophelia Lang. The Divorce likely caused his alcoholism. Police records indicate that the disappeared after a meeting with their attorney regarding their prenup."

Matt heard the man drone on. He quickly analyzed him. '220 pounds, minus the gear. 6'5, but the suit probably adds 3 inches to his height. Radar sense isn't picking him up, suit must absorb radio waves, no heat emitted either. He has some kind of cape or cloak on his back and has a shit load of gadgets. Also I can't hear his heartbeat. Weird. 100 feet away.'

The teenager still heard the humming from the large man's cowl. He crept up next to a wall, regulating his heart rate and breathing so that the drone has a harder time detecting him. He feels the wall a bit till he finds what he was searching for.

'Bingo,' he thought to himself, flipping a switch.

The overhead lights of the building turned on, causing the large man's eyes to water in pain. "AARGHHH," he growled out, turning off the devices in his cowl. It took a few seconds to do so. But that was all the time that Matt needed to close the gap.

Matt sprinted towards him at blinding speed, wrapping his arms around the larger opponents waist, trying to take him to the ground. But he countered that attack with an elbow to Matt's back and a knee to the gut, sending Matt to the floor.

Stumbling backwards the large man had his hand to his head, still unable to see.

'He can only fight defensively, need to do as much damage as I can before his sight comes back,' Matt thought as he removes his batons from his belt and rushes towards his opponents side. He strikes him across the head, a metallic 'tink' emanating from the strike, Matt quickly hits him 3 more times at the back of the head before doubling back to the right of his enemy.

The large man grabs his cape and places it in front of his body, making it difficult for Matt to judge where his body was. After some missed attacks and some glance hits Matt felt his baton hit metal again. But this time, the man's gauntlet.

The larger man disarms both of Matt's hands and delivers a palm strike to Matt's chin, launching him a foot in the air. Despite the ringing in his ears and the blood spurting from his mouth he gets back up and notices that the cape was no longer covering his body.

Matt lowers himself and reddies his left arm, delivering a devastating left hook on the man's liver. He winces in pain as he feels the blow through his armor. After fighting Bullseye Matt knows the kind of force he needs to output to get through that kind of armor.

The larger man moves two steps back, getting into a tighter defense position. Matt delivers two more punches but they are parried by the larger man, who at this point was relying on the blurry visage his eyes were now showing him.

He throws two punches, Matt rolls under both of them and kicks him in the knee, making the larger fighter move a few more steps back. Suddenly both fighters started throwing a series of punches at each other, non connecting, with the older fighter blocking them and Matt ducking under them.

Matt lands an uppercut but is immediately hit with a straight right. Matt retaliates with a body blow but it's blocked by an armored elbow. Matt grabs the elbow and moves it away from his body leaving his opponent wide open.

But before he could deliver another punch the man launches himself shoulder first into Matt's body, making him stumble backwards. The older fighter was about to make his move but felt a sudden pain across the right side of his body again. He looks down and sees a blurry black gloved fist embedded in his liver. Then Matt hits him with a straight right, his full body weight behind the attack.

The larger fighter leans backwards about to fall, Matt goes forward, in an attempt to finish him off. But much to Matt's surprise his opponent leans back more on purpose and raises his arm. His fist getting closer and closer to Matt's face. The teenager was about to get hit in the face and he ran toward it.

Matt could feel the metal covered knuckles inches from his face. His eyes widen as he bends down as far as he could without falling, the fist grazing his shoulder.

The man was wide open, a fact that Matt would exploit. A uses his left again and delivers another liver blow, a small crack entered Matt's ears, making his opponent feel like the right side of his body was launched into his left. He then throws a right hook towards the mans face. He lifts his arms to block but feels nothing.

'A feint?' he thought to himself. But that thought couldn't last long as Matt prepared an uppercut but leaped up a few inches to add more force to the punch, a gazelle punch. The impact send a shockwave throughout the older man's nervous system, making his head whip backwards.

The teenager started to then bob side to side in a figure 8 motion, building momentum, the older fighter couldn't move his body and couldn't respond. When he felt that he built enough speed Matt delivered a viscous flurry of right and left hooks as his body still moved back and forth from the momentum his entire body weight behind each blow. The older fighter heard jet engines whenever he got hit by each blow. His face violently grinding left and right with each attack, his eyes rolling at the back of his head.

Matt leaned a few more inches back as he prepared for the final blow. The final punch hits the man square in the jaw, knocking him on the floor. His final attack, the Dempsey roll.

The teenager limps towards a wall. Exhausted, breathing extremely heavily.

Matt wiped the sweat from his nose and was about to pick up his sticks when he felt some weight shift through the ground.

The man got back up, groaning and muttering about getting sloppy. 'That should have broken his jaw into a million pieces. His brain should be swollen like a watermelon. How is this guy getting up?'

The larger man's pupils dilate and focus on the person in front of him. He automatically analyses him. '5'8, 190 pounds. Subtle scar on left lip, tilts head excessively, must investigate further. Never shaved in his life. Likely an adolescent.'

After the 2 seconds he spent on a cursory analysis Matt felt a rush of air, then two large hands grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him across the room into a wall like a ragdoll. Matts screams in pain as his body hits the brick. Before he could get up, the attacker grabbed him by the throat and carried him in the air again.

He then repeatedly slammed Matt's face into the wall behind him, making it crack in the process.

Matt was then stood up and was exposed to a flurry of punches, knees and elbows to all his vital parts. Each blow capable of breaking concrete. He was finally headbutted by the man's titanium, carbon fiber allow cowl. Making the teen slump to the floor.

He barely felt the blows, the shock nullifying the pain. But he couldn't move an inch, he felt like a 2 tonne weight was tied onto his back.

He heard handcuffs being placed on his arms, that were now behind his back.

The large man removed something from his belt and injects it into his arm. Matt assumed it was an anesthetic, judging by the smell. "Alfred, prep the car. We have a problem."

'Come on Matt get up! Dad and Mark always get off the floor. COME ON!'

Despite the numbness throughout his body Matt crept upwards and leapt into the air pulling his knees to his chest, allowing him to move his restrained arms forwards. Upon seeing this the man removes another object from his belt and throws it at Matt's head.

Without even turning Matt catches the object and runs to the nearest window. He makes his way to the window but hears something come towards his feet. A cable.

The cable wraps around his feet but before it could make a nought Matt cuts the cable instinctively with the object he grabbed and leaps out the window, glass entering his body.

"Robin, use the drone, follow him!" the gravelly voice ordered.

Matt fell on top of a car after he heard that, denting it's roof. He runs towards a nearby alleyway, the drone in hot pursuit. The teen grabs a trench coat from a homeless man's trolley and puts it on. He hears a crowd nearby and takes off the mask, placing it in the urine drenched pocket of the coat.

He walks slowly so as to not arouse suspicion. New York is always busy, and the drone uses heat signatures to track people. It was impossible to locate someone in a crowd.

"Batman, I lost visual," a young voice came through his communicator device. "Then switch to the visible spectrum."

Matt hears the camera in the drone changing lenses. He hears a bus and immediately gets on it. The driver asks no questions seeing a bruised and bloodied handcuffed kid with glazed eyes entering the bus. It's New York, they've seen it all. After paying for the ticket Matt sits down in the nearest seat and lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

He places his hands on the rail and leans on them. Tired out of his mind. He almost screams in frustration as he heard his phone buzz. Reluctantly he picks up the phone and places it towards his ear.

"Devil, it's ready."

For the first time all evening Matt smiled.

* * *

"Looks like you had a rough day at work," Melvin Potter said nonchalantly as he stuck another needle in the handcuffs.

Matt nodded, "He was fast. Strong and was fighting blind. Plus he was decked out with loads of tech," the teenager said, his mask still drenched in his sweat and blood.

Melvin just stared at the cuffs. "Some sort of polymorphic, memory-alloy. Beyond cutting edge. It adapts to even the tiniest movements. Plus it even has metahuman power dampeners!" he said to no one in particular, with the same awe as a 5 year old in a candy shop.

The teenagers shook his head, but he was still concussed so it felt like being hit with a baseball bat. He first heard about Melvin from Turk Barrett, the biggest rat in Hell's Kitchen. Turns out Melvin was the guy who outfitted Bullseye with his armor.

Melvin was 6'4 and very strong. He threw a metal table at Matt like it was nothing. He suffered a brain injury as a kid. His social skills were a bit lacking but he was an amazing engineer. Specialises in weapons and armor.

After a brief scuffle, which involved Matt getting his head smashed against a metal workbench and the teenager subsequently strangling Melvin close to death on some chains the big guy just burst into tears. His therapist/lover Betsey was threatened by Big Figure and his crew. So he was blackmailed into helping them.

Matt convinced the giant bald man that he just wanted to help by offering him some chocolate milk. Seemed to do the trick. They got to talking and Melvin openly laughed at Matt's attempts of duct taping tiles together for armor. Matt awkwardly laughed along with him. 'Be nice, be nice,' he repeated like a mantra.

Melvin asked what Matt wanted for him to build.

The teenager got up and said, "A symbol."

Looking back Matt realised that that line was a bit corny but right now he was more concerned with the handcuffs tightening around his wrists. Melvin had sweat forming on his brow, "Last, one and…..." the cuffs unlocked and fell to the floor. Matt rubbed his sore wrists, grateful that he could get rid of at least some of the pain in his body.

Melvin noticed that Matt was still bleeding from where the glass was embedded in his body.

"You should get that checked out man," he said with concern as he opened a bottle of chocolate milk. Matt smiled, "Let me worry about that. You said it was ready?"

The armorer almost spat out his milk. "Almost forgot. Here it is," Melvin said as he lifted a suitcase and placed in Matt's hand. The vigilante was surprised as to how light it was. It weighed maybe 17-18 pounds at most and that was with the suitcase.

"This is really light. How is it going to protect me? No offense."

Melvin waved his hand, "Get asked that all the time. I usually outfit Wall Street guys. Idiots. It's made of lightweight impact absorbent materials. Silicon carbide discs, ceramic matrices and some graphene. That's the primary layer. Reds can stop knives and small caliber rounds and the black parts are the real heavy duty stuff. The secondary layer is a latex, nomex composite. Won't do much against guns but is a great insulator and can help resist heat, cold and electricity. Plus it fits over the primary layer like a glove."

Matt was impressed, he created two layers of armor, each with their own purpose in 3 weeks. "Ok, primary layer for guns and knives, the one on top of that for insulation. Cool," Matt said, picking up the case.

"Wait, you're not gonna take a look?" Melvin asked.

Matt extended his hand, "I'll take your word for it Melvin."

The armorer clasped his hand. "Wait, wait one more thing!" he said, running to the back of his workshop. He takes out a small container and laughs like he won the lottery. "Been working this for a while now."

He opens the container and pulls out its contents. "Custom made billy club. You can detach the two halves and make some batons. Attach them together for a quarterstaff. Turn them into nunchucks, grapple hook, long range combat. The possibilities are endless," Melvin said enthusiastically.

Matt took off his glove and twirled the billy club in his hand. He then flicks his wrist and one half shoots out and embeds itself in a wall, cable in tow.

"Might wanna work on that aim," Melvin said as he took some plaster from a bucket and removed the club from his wall, filling in the home.

"Thanks, Melvin!" Matt said. But Melvin was in his own world, fixing his wall. Matt sighed and took the billy club along with the armor case. He had one more stop to make.

* * *

"Thank the Lord you got some armor. I'm kind of fed up using my sick days to patch you up every other night," Claire Temple said as she finished the last of Matt's stitches. Matt giggled derisively. "You intern at the hospital. You don't have sick days," he said a little too loudly.

Claire was satisfied that the pain killers were working at least. She was dating Matt's adopted brother Mark, but after they found out his secret identity by accident. He couldn't handle it, took a bag and left.

'Losing their dad, having their mom be in a coma and discovering your blind, little brother half dead would make anyone lose their shit,' Claire thought. Matt said that he did this when their grandma died. He disappeared for a month or so and came back with souvenirs from all over the country.

"He'll be back. Don't worry," Matt told Claire, detecting her sadness.

Claire started packing her medical kit. "Guess I messed up the dosage again if you can still make sense," she said lightly nudging him in the shoulder. "I have a weird ass nervous system, not your fault," Matt said feeling stiff after an hour of stitches and bandaging.

Despite still being in college, Claire had more experience than most any nurse in her hospital. Her mother owned a clinic and she helped her out since she was a child. So it was quite puzzle when she puts her hands over places in Matt's body that have done months worth of healing in a few weeks.

Matt said he had some healing meditations but that just raised a dozen more questions in Claire's mind.

She takes another look at Matt's battered body. "You've been busy."

"Yeah, a bit."

"How's that working out for you?"

Matt cracked his knuckles, "You should see the other guys."

"I have, at the hospital. And none of them could do this to you," she said throwing him his shirt from the other side of the room, Matt catching it without looking. 'That's pretty cool,' Claire thinks to herself.

Matt groaned, remembering the beating he took earlier. "This guy matched me blow for blow, blinded and when I had the element of surprise. Plus he was decked out in tons of gadgets. Scanners, armor, drones, comm's devices, grappling hooks and even this thing," Matt said pulling the projectile that was thrown at him from his belt.

Claire looked at it with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. "You said you knocked this guy down."

"Yeah."

"And that you got the shit kicked out of you and you managed to run away?"

Before Matt could defend himself, Claire put the projectile in his hand. "Trace your finger around this thing. Now!"

The teenager knew better than to disobey a girl when she said something like that in that tone, Lakshmi taught him that much at least. He traced his finger around the projectile and halfway through it struck him.

"Wait, you mean this is… a batarang?"

Claire nodded in response.

Matt fiddled with the projectile once more. "I fought BATMAN?!" he exclaimed out loud.

* * *

Bruce Wayne was rarely ever caught off guard. Metahumans, SWAT teams and even armies of assassins have tried and failed. So when someone manages to succeed and put up a good fight afterward, they pique his interest. The billionaire was reviewing the footage from both the drone and his cowl simultaneously on his large monitor in his New York penthouse.

The large building wasn't as well equipped as the Batcave, but the top 3 floors had a custom gym. Various tools and gadgets, a medical room, crime lab and a hanger for various vehicles.

Bruce knew that the person he fought was Daredevil. Not many people fit the physical description. But what he was trying to determine was his real identity. Bruce saw a brief glimpse of movement behind the monitor. "Dick, I saw you move behind the computer banks 8 minutes ago," Bruce said as he took an ice pack to his head. 'Kid punches hard,' he thought as he remembered the combination he received from Daredevil.

Dick Grayson leaped from behind the computer and landed on the seat next to Bruce in one fluid motion, sitting down cross legged. "Find anything yet?" he asks impatiently.

"I have. But I wanted to see what you could find first," Bruce responded. Using this case to improve Dick's detective skills. "Really?" Dick asked. Bruce nodded, "A second opinion is always valid."

The young acrobat took the opportunity in stride, it's not often Bruce let him do things on his own. He rewound and saw the footage from both the drone and cowl multiple times.

"I'm thrilled to see you can use the rewind mechanism of the video. I was hoping for something more productive," Bruce said in a dry tone.

Dick squinted his eyes. "Not everyone has an eidetic memory you know," the young boy said as he analysed the footage.

"He's good."

"I was hoping for something more substantial Dick," Bruce stated. Egging his ward on. Dick turned to face his mentor, "Look at his fight with that Bullseye guy. The way he flips around. It isn't random. It's a controlled movement. He moves far enough away from the guy to dodge his attack but he's close enough that he can deliver a counter."

Bruce nodded slightly, remembering Dick practicing those moves in the batcave a few weeks ago. "Plus he can regulate his body temperature. The drone didn't pick him up till he started fighting you."

"Anything else?"

Dick scratched his head. "Oh yeah. He fought you after he turned on the lights. His eyes should have taken a while to recover but he went all out anyways."

The billionaire turned Dick back towards the monitor. "You missed a crucial detail."

Dick shrugged. "What?"

"Look at his head."

Dick did so. Looking at the footage from the cowl. He noticed that Daredevil rarely ever looked directly at Bruce. Rather he tilted his head in Bruce's direction.

"That's weird. Why's he doing that with his head?" Dick asked.

"When I was in Japan one of my martial arts instructors, Kato suffered from optic atrophy. Progressive sight loss. He learned to use his other senses to compensate. He moved his head just like our friend here."

Dick looked back at the footage. "So that's why the lights never bothered him."

Bruce slowed down a portion of the footage. "Take a look at the combination he threw here. A liver blow. Followed by a Hien, a feint in Japanese boxing. Gazelle punch and a Dempsey roll. Up till now I thought only 3 men in the world could throw that combo successfully."

"Guessing you're one of them?" Dick asked rhetorically.

"Me, Ted Grant and Markus Murdock. The latter 2 don't fit the description. But Daredevil must have trained with Ted if he knew those kind of old fashioned boxing moves." Bruce stated, pulling up some profiles for the two men in question.

Bruce also identified Muay Thai, wrestling, wing chun, silat, northern and southern shaolin kung fu, kalaripayattu, karate, ninjutsu and Taoism as some of his fighting styles.

"We're looking for a white visually impaired adolescent male. 5'8, and around 190 pounds with a small subtle scar on his lip." Bruce stated as he rubbed his bandaged ribs.

"When do we start looking?" Dick asks.

Bruce shook his head. "It's a waste of time pursuing him when Pyg is still at large. We need to focus on him."

"What if we run into him again?" Dick asked. Referring to Daredevil.

The detective got up from his seat. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now you need to rest. And I need to prepare for a meeting tomorrow."

Dick leaped of his seat, performing a quadruple somersault, landing near the steps. Bruce had to pretend to come on official Wayne enterprises business when he came to New York. He was set to meet Britt Reid Sr in the morning. The owner of The Daily Sentinel, one of the few successful newspaper companies left in New York.

The young boy yawned as he ran up the steps. That kind of business stuff bored him. Plus Alfred made him some hot chocolate.

Bruce smiles. Dick was one of the only people capable of making him do that. He rarely showed his affection to the boy. It's something that Bruce always struggled with. But Alfred compensates for Bruce's lack of external affection.

The billionaire takes one last look at the footage and shuts down his computer.

Tomorrow would be a busy day.

* * *

 **New York, Saturday, November 14** **th** **, 2009:**

"Thanks for coming man," Britt Reid Jr told Matt. The taller teen picked Matt up from his house an hour earlier. The millionaire had his father's limo and driver bring some food as well.

Matt placed his hand on Britt's shoulder. "Today's a hard day for you. I get it."

Britt simply nodded. He was usually loud spoken and somewhat abrasive in his speech. But today wasn't a day he felt like indulging that side of him.

"Mom never liked this place," Britt said as he guided Matt onto the massive elevator. "She always thought dad just stayed at work to be away from us. You know?"

Matt simply shrugged. His parents were always doing everything in their power to be next to each other. So he didn't know what it was like for the patriarch of the family to spend so much time away. That was before his father died and his mom went into a coma.

The blind teen slumped over slightly. The wounds he received the night before taking their toll. Britt supported Matt till he got up.

"What was it this time? Get punched by Gorilla Grodd?" Britt asked sarcastically. "Last week you said you got hit by a car. The week before you were mugged and the week before that you walked into a pole." Britt gently poked Matt's now swollen cheek. "I know a good right hook when I see one."

Matt smirked. His excuses for his injuries have gotten pretty bad lately. They might have seemed plausible to most of his friends. But Britt was a junior MMA fighter. One of the best in the country. He knew his bruises.

"It's nothing man," Matt said trying to divert the topic. Britt responded sternly, "If someone in your new apartment is hurting you. Tell me. Me and your brother will mess them up."

The shorter teen smiled at his friend's protective nature. He's been overly defensive over Matt since 6th grade. He never treated Matt like an invalid. But if someone did anything to make fun of his disability or hurt him. Well, that person usually lost a couple teeth.

Lakshmi usually was responsible for calming the situation down. But she couldn't do much to physically stop someone far taller and stronger than her from punching someone in the face.

Matt felt the cables hoisting the elevator tighten. "We're here." He said moments before the elevator door opened to the top floor.

Britt sighed. He never understood how Matt did things like that.

The two friends walked along the floor, Matt grabbing Britt's arm for guidance whilst tapping his cane around. They found the meeting room and sat on some nearby chairs.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Britt reading some magazines that were scattered on a nearby table and Matt doing his best to ignore the overwhelming stench of ink, coffee and sweat. After a while Matt opened his mouth to ask a question. "When's your dad coming out?"

"He's meeting Bruce Wayne. So not sure."

Matt raised an eyebrow. 'The anniversary of when his wife dies and he has a meeting with another rich guy. Yep. Definitely a workaholic.'

The red headed teen had been giving and receiving information from Britt's dad. Britt Reid Sr.

He was a superhero in the 80's called the Green Hornet. He worked alongside Matt's old mentor Kato to fight crime. Now he does his best to deliver justice with his paper.

Matt gives him knowledge regarding the movements of certain criminals so that Britt Sr could publish that on his paper. The retired hero also gave Matt information he received from his journalists.

It was a good relationship despite it only going on for a month. Matt took care to never speak English in front of Britt Sr in case he recognised him. They usually spoke Japanese or Mandarin with each other.

'The old man's going to have a field day when he sees the new suit,' Matt thought to himself as he rubs his bruised face. He managed to heal to an extent by mediating. But it would still take a few more days to heal properly.

Britt exclaimed out loud as he read the front page of today's paper. _**Faceless Butcher strikes again!**_

He describes the information given on the paper about the two crime scenes Matt visited last night. Matt gave Detective Blake all the information he overheard Batman say after Claire patched him up. Turns out the woman Matt analysed was the wife of the man Batman examined.

His knuckles whiten as he makes a tight fist. Matt knew he had a serial killer to find in Hell's kitchen but he doesn't have the faintest clue where to start.

The door to the conference room opens and both teens get up. Matt did so a bit slower so as to not aggravate his wounds.

"Thank you Mr. Wayne," an older, almost gentle voice stated clasping a large hand in a powerful handshake.

"My pleasure. Mr. Reid, thank you for taking your time on today of all days. I'm sorry for your loss." Bruce said, his voice still deep but less gravelly than his Batman voice.

Reid Sr had a sad look on his face. "I'm sure my wife would have appreciated the extra funding your organization has provided for her charity," the older man stated. With some melancholy in his voice as he remembers his dead wife.

Bruce turned to face Britt Jr. "You must be his son. Britt Jr right?" the large man asked, extending his hand. "Yeah...uh. Hi," he responded awkwardly shaking Bruce's hand.

The billionaire was 4 inches taller than Britt and at least 20 pounds heavier. Matt also heard his heartbeat. The only way he could describe it was perfect. The moment Bruce turned to face Matt he paused.

'5'8. Blind, subtle scar on his lip, clearly in excellent physical condition. Judging by his posture he must have martial arts experience. But he's so young. 14 years old at most. Could he be it?' Bruce thought to himself a few seconds after seeing Matt.

Matt did his best to act casually but he couldn't. He knew he was being analysed. He could feel it. The teenager could tell that Bruce was mainly muscle, barely any fat. When the billionaire extended his hand he heard a creak in his ribs. They were bruised in the exact same location where he punched Batman.

The two warriors shook hands, the sound echoing across the corridor. "You've a strong grip there son," Bruce said not budging an inch. "You too sir," Matt replied, feeling the scars on Bruce's hand that may not have been visible to the naked eye.

Both Britt Sr and Britt Jr stood awkwardly as the two vigilantes had a stare down. Though Matt didn't know that was happening thanks to his blindness. Bruce smiled and placed his hand on Matt's shoulder. "You are?"

"Matthew. Matthew Murdock," Matt replied as they let each others hands go. "Well Matthew, it was nice meeting you," he said charismatically, the teen almost forgetting he was speaking to one of the greatest heroes to ever live. Bruce bid farewell to Britt Sr and made his way to the elevator.

Matt couldn't see Bruce's face but he was sure he was being glared at from the elevator.

'Man without fear my ass, I was shitting bricks,' Matt thought to himself as he accompanied the Britt's to the private elevator in the building. Matt felt a weird buzz on his shoulder, and could detect radio waves being emitted from that location.

As Matt entered the limo with the two millionaires he heard some static a few dozen feet away. " _Tracker's in position Alfred. I'll appraise you of his location when required._ " A deep voice said.

'I barely felt that being planted. Damn good tech he's got there,' Matt said as he removed the device and stuck it onto the seat behind him. 'The leather could do with some radio waves anyway,' Matt thought sarcastically as the car started driving from its current location.

Matt heard the all too familiar sound of the drone hovering over the limo. 'Got all your bases covered. Crap,' Matt thought as he tried to figure out an escape route.

Matt got out of the car a few blocks away from his apartment. He told the Britt's that he didn't want to keep them from visiting Mrs. Reid's grave. The tracking device was already in the car. Matt didn't detect any infrared or radio waves being emitted from the drones camera, so he assumed it was using the visual spectrum. He was walking in a crowd, cane extended, glasses on his nose, tapping around.

The drone was a few hundred feet away, but Matt knew it had his exact location. He couldn't run off, the drone could catch up with him easily. He couldn't use the shadows seeing as though it was the middle of the day and it was too high up to destroy.

The scent of garbage filled Matt's nostrils as he heard a garbage truck dump it's load into it's back. He remembered something his brother did in an old video game he played. "Let's put your splinter cell skills to the test Mark," Matt muttered under his breath as he made a beeline towards the nearest alley.

The drone followed suit, but when it reached the alley, Matt had disappeared. "Robin, switch to infrared," Batman instructed as the camera changed lense. But the result was the same.

The truck started to leave the alley and Bruce instructed his ward to circle around the block to see if they missed him somewhere.

Matt held his breath, not wanting to inhale the smell of rotting food and used takeout. But hanging off the bottom of a garbage trunk with a half broken suspension that made the vehicle bounce up and down along with the exhaust fumes didn't make that task any easier.

After Matt realised that the drone was far enough away he dropped to the ground, gritting his teeth as his injured and bruised back violently hit the pavement at 40 miles an hour. He loosened his neck to avoid whiplash and slowly got off of the road, rubbing his pain stricken back.

The teenager knew that he didn't get rid of the detective. He could probably find his address relatively easily seeing as though he knew his name now.

Matt's mind then went to the serial killer. 'Batman knows about whoever this guy is,' he though as he navigated his way back home. 'I should probably give him a visit in my work clothes.'

He then sniffed the air. 'After a couple showers maybe.'

* * *

"I can't believe we lost him again!" Dick shouted out, reviewing the footage of him following Matt with the drone. Bruce sat in the corner, going through some files pertaining to Professor Pyg. In the past, he kidnapped orphans and runaways in order to experiment on them with a secret pain dulling formula. But the bleaching of skin, fusing his victims mouths and the opera music were all new aspects to his routine as a killer.

'What are you up to?' he asks himself rhetorically. "Bruce?" Dick asks, pestering his mentor. "You're not at all worried that this guy knows who you are?" he says, pointing to a picture of him on the massive computer screen. The billionaire put away the holographic display of the files and got up.

"He's skilled but inexperienced. He uses no equipment that means anything and he's got a level head. He's made allies with the press and police already."

Dick looks at him with a confused expression, "Won't that mean he'll go to the cops?"

Bruce walked towards the computer, "No. He knows that we have information on Pyg. He'll likely try and arrange a meeting to establish some sort of truce. Work together to take down Pyg."

As if on cue the dynamic duo heard tapping on the tinted wall sized window next to them. Bruce presses a button on a remote and the tinted effect fades away, revealing a figure dressed in red, hanging from what appeared to be a cable.

"Mind letting me in. It's so windy up here!" He shouted out loud, trying to drown out the wind.

* * *

Dick looked at Matt with a bewildered look. A blind teenager scaled a skyscraper with a billy club and managed to not get detected by the security around the building.

Bruce was more entranced by Matt's new outfit. The top layer looked like some sort of nomex based fibre, like his older Batsuits. Excellent for insulation but poor for knives and guns. It was a chrome red suit, with a pair of black gloves and boots being the only things making the suit look like it had separate pieces. Small devil horns adorned the top of the suit and the letters 'DD' where emblazoned on the chest, one D lower to the left than the other. A utility belt was on his waist. Not as advanced as Bruce's but it must have contained some useful tools. It was a darker shade of red than the rest of the suit and had a holster for Daredevil's billy club.

The most striking thing about the mask was that it had eyes. Bruce figured that Matt had asked for them to be added to ensure people didn't know he was blind or his armorer didn't know either.

The detective knew that the main protection came from the armor underneath, judging by the extra bulk Matt had with the suit. The upper layer did a good job of hiding any panels the armor may have had, preventing enemies from seeing any weaknesses in the armor.

Judging by the quality of the upper layer Bruce figured that the primary armor layer must have provided Matt some protection from knives and gunfire. Even the helmet was covered by the nomex layer along with the aforementioned black gloves and boots. Seeing as though he climbed a skyscraper, the suit does little to nothing to impede in Matt's agility.

From a distance Matt would look like a large man with a cloth suit. Though that does usually scare criminals anyway.

Matt was in awe of the amount of stuff congested into a few floors of the skyscraper. What really caught his attention was the kitchen. He heard the British man, Alfred, sing some WW2 era trench song and smelt the stew he was cooking.

"Is that British guy cooking beef? Down there. Like that really expensive Japanese beef?" Matt asked Bruce and Dick, breaking the silence. "You can hear and smell that from up here?" Dick asked incongruently. Matt slaps himself mentally, 'Now they know you have enhanced senses, good job dumbass,' he thought to himself.

Bruce almost let out a slither of a smile, 'Rookie,' he thought, remembering how he almost spilled his secret identity to so many people in the past when he was starting out. "Alfred makes a mean beef stew, you're welcome to some while we go over what we know." Bruce offered, making Dick just give up trying to be stoic and tough.

"FYI, his pudding is the best. Save that for last," the young boy says to Matt, the teenager just nodding in response, smiling at the young ones attitude.

"So," Matt began, "This guy's called Professor Pyg?"

Bruce nodded, opening a display on his giant computer screen in the room. Before Bruce began explaining it's contents, Matt tilted his head and 'Glared' at the billionaire. Well, as best a glare a blind kid could muster. "Sorry, Dick give him the hard copies."

The young acrobat leaped onto the table top 30 feet away, got the files and flipped backwards half a foot away from Matt handing him the files. 'This kid makes me look like a sumo wrestler,' Matt thought, admiring the boy's gymnastic prowess.

He took of his glove and ran his fingers over the letters on the page, feeling the changes in elevation and interpreting them as letters. After a few minutes, he put the file down and put his glove back on. "So he's never killed like this before?"

"No, it's a new pattern. And with the exception of the divorced couple, none of them have any relation. So determining a pattern is difficult."

At that moment Alfred came up with the stew on a silver platter. He set the tables, despite knowing that his younger companions would simply pick it off the table and eat elsewhere, including Bruce. He removed the pudding from the fridge, making Dick's mouth salivate.

Thanks to his enhanced senses, Matt could already taste the food despite being over a dozen feet away from it. His stomach began to growl.

A question popped into Matt's mind, "Where were all the victims taken?" he asks Bruce, who was taking a sip of the beef stew.

Bruce spouted out the locations of each victim before they disappeared. Matt who was also feasting on the stew at this point was trying to figure out what each place had in common.

"This Pyg guy doesn't seem to be the type to hire help. So he must have been close to kidnap these people." Matt exposited as he took another spoon full of the broth, the sight making Dick chuckle.

"We thought of that and narrowed down his location to 5 possible locations. But we can't monitor them all at once," Bruce said handing Matt another file.

After finishing his stew and brushing his fingers over the letters on the paper, an ability that made Dick wonder if he was actually blind.

"The two warehouses at the docks are out. They're controlled by the Bratva. I doubt this guy would fight the entire Russian mob to get a place to kill people."

Bruce nodded in acknowledgment, thankful for the input of a local, narrowing down his search further. Matt continues, "The abandoned clinic seems a good spot at first but it's in Big figures old territory. It's got too many eyes on it to be a viable option for secrecy."

"That leaves the old high school and the abandoned movie theatre," Dick interjected. "High school makes sense. It's got the chems he needs to burn off the victims fingerprints and bleach their skin."

"Yeah, but there's a lot of dealers and black market agents near the theatre. They could get Pyg what he wanted if he had the cash," Matt said.

Bruce walked between the two. "We need to split up. I'll check out the school. Robin, you join Daredevil and investigate the theatre. Remember, resonance first. If you find Pyg at your location, DO. NOT. ENGAGE. Wait for me to reach you two." Both the young heroes simply nodded. No one disobeyed an order from Batman. Usually anyway.

Dick was psyched. The fact that Bruce called him Robin showed he was serious now. Plus he got to team up with someone near his age.

The caped crusaders were about to go downstairs to suit up till Daredevil stopped them. "I appreciate your help. But I don't want you guys revealing my identity. People I care about are at stake."

"I understand. You have my word." Bruce said as him and Dick went downstairs. "I don't. He's blind!" Dick whispered to Bruce.

Matt placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Seeing is overrated," he said. Making the boy wonder shut up and wonder if maybe this team up was such a good idea.

* * *

The two young heroes reached their perch point near the theatre. They arrived a little later than expected since Matt almost swung into a lamppost with his billy Club after stopping a mugging.

Matt insisted that Bruce take the drone with him, stating the noise would distract him. Alfred offered to operate the device for Bruce.

"No heart beats or footsteps in the building," Matt stated. "Ok. What exactly are your powers?" Dick asked fed up with being surprised by what Matt could do.

"I mean you have super hearing and taste. But there's got to be more. No way you can move the way you do with just that," Dick stated.

Matt shrugged. "It's not a power. If you trained hard enough even you could have my abilities." The teenager refrained from answering specific questions about his skills and capabilities. He didn't trust the two Gotham based heroes enough for that.

Realising that the current avenue of discussion was fruitless he decided to change course. "You fought Batman, right?" he asks rhetorically. Cringing at the awkward starter to the new discussion.

"More like I punched him a few times and then got the shit beat out of me. But sure. I fought him," Matt added. Still salty at his easy defeat at the hand of the older fighter.

Robin was flabbergasted at Matt's comment. "Dude. I've been training with him for years. If I even managed to land one punch I'd be over the moon."

Matt shrugged. "What if he was a bad guy? Only superhero in New York taken down a couple month into his tenure."

"You do realise most people who start off as vigilantes last a week on average. You took down a crime boss and an international assassin in your first month," Robin said with some admiration in his voice.

Matt looked away and sighed, "Yeah, but at what cost?"

Dick knew that Matt had lost his father to a gangster called the Fixer. That same guy put his mom in a coma. Bruce dug up as much info on Matt once he knew his identity.

Matt suddenly twitched his head in the direction of the theatre. "Two heartbeats. One male and one female. I heard some metal sliding over the ground. A hatch maybe?"

The teenager leaped off the building into a nearby alleyway and placed his hand on the ground. He felt a hollow space under the road.

"Tunnels." He muttered out. Dick jumped down in time to hear that statement. "What?" Dick asked.

Matt stood up. "During prohibition some buildings were constructed above a series of tunnels to allow bootleggers to transport their goods easier. Most of them were sealed off but some were never found. Pyg must have used them to transport his victims and supplies without anyone noticing."

Dick put his finger in his ear to activate his communicator when Matt heard another sound. "Shit, he started playing the opera music."

Matt took out his billy club and began to make his way to the abandoned theatre. Dick ran in front of him.

"Come on. Let's wait for Batman!" he said, his previous encounter with Pyg having left him less than enthusiastic about fighting the serial killer again.

Matt touched the small scar on his lip. He remembered the way his mother slumped to the ground when she fell into a coma. How Mary died in his arms thanks to him. The sound of the new victim's heart was overwhelming his ears.

"I'm not letting that woman die," he said as he rushed towards the back entrance, removing a lock pick set from his belt.

"Batman," Dick started. "You better get here fast. We're going in." Dick took his finger off the communicator before Batman could respond.

"We are so dead," Robin exclaimed as he followed Daredevil into the back of the theatre.

* * *

The insides of the theatre wasn't anything like Dick expected. It was clean, sterile and the walls were freshly painted. Judging by the way the paint was flaking Pyg must have been here for months. Even the overhead lights seemed to be new. The sidekick took some cable from his belt and tied up the knobs of the door behind him. Making escape for all parties a little bit more difficult.

Matt unfortunately couldn't enjoy the clean, clinic like aesthetic since he was immediately bombarded by the scent of cleaners and disinfectants, reminding the blind teenager of a hospital. A place he wasn't particularly fond of. Matt did his best to drown out the scent and focus on the sound of the two heartbeats he heard. But something felt off to him.

The red clad hero raised his arm up, his hand in a fist making Robin stop behind him. "I count only two heartbeats," Matt said. "Yeah, you said so before," Dick replied. Matt shook his head, "Yeah, but there are at least 15 other people breathing in this building. My guess is they've got to be sedated, lowering their heart rate, almost flatlining."

Dick shuddered, it wasn't uncommon for Pyg to sedate his victims, but 15 was a number way higher than he was expecting. Matt put his hand on the wall next to him. "Hey Dick, think you can fit into that vent on top of us?" The young acrobat looked up and nodded. Matt then explained that the vents led right to the room that Pyg was with his newest victim and planned a surprise attack.

Matt then walked underneath a panel where Dick could enter and got onto his knees so he could give the smaller boy a boost. Dick didn't need any help to reach the vents but he wasn't going to complain. The teenager boosted him up as Dick removed a tool from his belt and unscrewed the cover, passing it down to Matt before entering the vent.

Dick couldn't rely on any schematics to follow since the building was too old and none could be found online in the short timeframe they had. So he just had to follow Matt as he went through the building and hoped that the vents would give him an easy route.

As the two ventured further into the building the opera noise became loud enough for even Dick to hear. They were getting closer. Matt felt a large space behind the door in front of him, Dick whispered saying it was the room where the movies where usually played, reading the old sign on top the door.

Matt removed his billy club from it's holster and divided them into two smaller batons. The files Batman gave him indicated that Pyg was a very adept fighter despite his build so he decided to employ some weapons just in case. The teenager kept tuning into the opera Pyg was spouting out of his mouth and had to admit that for an unredeemable psychopath he could carry a note.

He slowly opened the door, the hinges had already been oiled, probably by Pyg. Matt noticed that the woman on the operating table had only recently been sedated, seeing as though he could still easily detect her heartbeat. Matt was a bit annoyed by the fact that the moment he fully opened the door Pyg would be able to spot him, and the overweight surgeon placed himself at the bottom of the stairs that led to the screen of the theatre, making a rush attack nigh impossible. Dick couldn't come out of the vents without alerting Pyg and even if he didn't he'd still be in his line of sight.

Chains rattled overhead, Matt knew it had to be a relatively large structure due to the resonance. Dick, being at his right, behind a vent whispered that they were cages. Matt heard a subtle pattern of breathing inside the cages. 'The other 15 breaths. They're all in here,' he realised.

Matt heard the sound of metal cutting through air, his radar sense indicating that Pyg had a scalpel in hand. Not wanting any harm to befall on the woman he burst in and threw one of his batons at Pyg's hand, disarming him and ricocheting off the wall behind him back into Matt's hand.

"It's over, Valentine," Matt said referring to Pyg's last name. "LET. THEM. GO," he said, pointing one of his batons at the woman at the table.

Pyg snorted loudly, making Matt's ears ring. "Oh no no no no no no. But Pyg is not ready yet. This one has yet to undergo the process. She will be made perfect. All flaws expunged from her being!" the squeaky voice said as he caressed the unconscious body infront of him.

"Is that what you did to Anthony and Ophelia Lang? Make them perfect?" Matt asked, inching closer with every word. Pyg put his hand over his ceramic face and yelped. "They were flawed. Pyg did not see the extent of their folly. One succumbed to the drink and the other had her head wound up too much. They did not embrace the process," Pyg said almost melodically as he referred to Anthony's alcoholism and Ophelia's brain tumor.

Pyg raised his arms up like a ballerina and twirled around with far too much grace for someone his age and weight. "It's over," Matt said now only dozen feet away from his target. "But Pyg can fix you too. Make you perfect. Rid you of your pain," the serial killer said, noticing a slight limp in Matt's stride.

Matt was still injured from when he fell on that car from his fight with Batman. He had read that Pyg was an excellent doctor but this was something else, Matt was trained to hide any weakness he might possess. Even trained assassins would struggle to notice any hidden or healing injuries at first glance. He should know, he trained with many.

"You're insane," Matt said getting closer. "And what are you?" Pyg asked pointing his gloved finger at Matt.

"The guy who's going to stop you," he replied. Pyg put his hand onto the woman's throat, making Matt stop. "Bad, very bad. Pyg is like God. Riding these poor souls of their mortal chains. Here. To. Fix. Us. All!" he sang, squealing with glee, raising his hands once more and moving them like a conductor at an opera would.

He moved a few steps back as Matt went to inspect the woman on the table for any injuries. The teenager felt someone moving to his side. A muffled voice escaped that person and he lunged at Matt, the teenager rolling out of the way. 'Low rate of breath, can't hear a heartbeat. What the hell is this guy?' he thought as Pyg smiled at his creation. "Yes my sweet piglet. Show him, my darling. Show him how perfect you are!" he said with venom in his voice.

Matt cursed the fact that he didn't detect the person in front of him sooner, but there was too much background noise, from the opera, the cages, and Pyg. He decided to work on his senses after he got threw this. He struck the zombie like being in front of him in the temple, knees and chin, all vital areas. But nothing happened.

"My dollotrons feel no pain. They heal like no man could ever hope to. THEY ARE FREE FROM THE CONFINES OF RACE AND GENDER! THEY ARE THE PERFECT HUMAN BEINGS!" Pyg shouted out as the dollotron in front of Matt lumbered forward.

The smell of his bleached skin made Matt's nostrils burn but at least it made it easier for Matt to detect him. He made a subtle gesture, telling Robin to stay put. "Sorry about this," Matt said as the dollotron attempted to grab Matt. The teenager struck his hand and trapped his arm into a lock with his batons. With an almighty twist he cracked it, making his bone stick out of his arm. Matt them put his foot behind the dollotrons leg and sweeped him onto the floor. He made his batons interlock with his victims ankle and with one motion shattered it.

The dollotron unable to walk or pick himself up stayed motionless on the floor. Matt could hear the tendons and bones already putting themselves back together, faster than humanly possible but it would be a few hours before the dollotron was in any position to fight. '1 down, 14 more to go,' Matt thought as he turned towards Pyg.

The serial killer took a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button, making all the cages above Matt fall to the ground. The teenager sidestepped out of the way as the cages burst open, allowing the remaining 14 dollotrons to crawl out.

Pyg attempted to run away but as he tried to open the door that was closest to him an electronic hum started emanating from the door. The electric lock Pyg had installed had just been activated. Matt turned his head towards Dick's location and smiled, the younger hero cackling quietly in the vent.

"My precious piglets! Attack this defiler. See that our goal remains untarnished by his meddling," Pyg commanded snorting furiously. All 14 dollotrons converged at Matt's location, who was now twisting his batons together to return his billy club back to it's full length.

Two of the dollotrons fell to the ground as a metal panel fell on their heads. A boy dressed in red and black then landed on their heads, ensuring they would stay down a while longer. "Good timing bird boy," Matt said, flicking his wrist to make his billy club and extending it's cable to hit one dollotron in the face, bruising it's head and making it stumble.

"I took two down horn head," Robin quipped as Matt wrapped the cable around one's neck and dragged it to the floor knocking a few more dollotrons to the ground. "We have to cripple them. No other way to stop them," Matt said as he choked out the one dollotron he has trapped with his billy club.

Dick looked at him with a sour expression, "I'd rather not do that to innocent people," Dick said as he threw a pair of bolas, entangling two dollotrons together, the zombie like pair lacking the coordination to untie themselves. "Ok, I stand corrected cripple or tie-up. Our only two options but the former is a lot easier," Matt said leaping over a dollotron and smacking it in the hip with his billy club, breaking the hip bone and making the dollotron slump on the floor.

"7 more to go," Dick said as he took more weapons from his belt. Pyg tried escaping by climbing the steps at the side of the theatre but Dick saw this. He threw some smoke bombs at a few dollotrons, giving Matt cover to take them down, and the acrobat performs a quadruple somersault and drop kicked Pyg in the chest, making him fall over and gasp for air.

Before Dick could knock him out, a dollotron grabbed the side kick from behind and tried to smother him. Pyg took this opportunity and ran up the remaining steps and escaped the large room. Dick's vision started to blacken until Matt kicked the dollotron behind the knee and threw him away from Dick.

He extended a hand, helping Robin up. "He's going for the secret exit at the other side of the theatre," Matt said. Dick, between coughs threw some small explosives near a dollotron, dazing it. "4 more left, including that one. I got this, go!" Dick yelled as he ran towards a dollotron, span mid-air whilst grabbing his opponent's head and kicked the two dollotrons behind him as he was going down.

Satisfied that the younger fighter could take care of himself, he ran after Pyg.

Pyg was still winded from when Robin kicked him. Running up a flight of steps and being horribly overweight did not help matters. Matt knew this and threw his billy club at Pyg, hitting him in the back of the head. The killer fell over but quickly reached for a knife in his apron and threw it at Matt.

Not having the time catch his billy club and dodge the knife simultaneously he elected to just sidestep the knife. His billy club passed him after the knife narrowly missed his head and landed a few feet behind him. Unfortunately Matt couldn't retrieve his weapon as Pyg got back up and started running.

Matt sprinted after him, leapt onto the wall beside him, running across it briefly and intercepted Pyg, landing right in front of him. Before Pyg could process what had happened he flew half a dozen feet backwards. His gut began to burn and his eyes watered as he looked up to see Daredevil's leg extended.

"Kick. Kick Pyg. You bullies always prey on the different. Pyg wanted to fix that. Pyg wanted to fix everyone!" he blurted out as he felt blood pool inside his mask. Matt walked towards Pyg. "How is bleaching people's skin, burning their prints, sewing their mouths shut, altering their DNA and removing any trace of their gender fixing them?!" Matt asked, enraged by the killers logic.

Pyg took off his mask and snorted. Blood spurting out of his mouth. "Pyg has seen the insides of people. We are all so similar. Yet we war with each other. Argue with each other. Exploit each other for the most petty reasons. Pyg sought to remove those differences. To unite our peoples. So that they did not have to live through the pain Pyg did."

The serial killer wept as he walked towards Matt. "See my face, Devil. Can you imagine Pyg's life looking like this? Can you not see how ugly Pyg is?" Matt sighed, only noticing his heart rate, hormone levels and his vague visage due to his radar sense.

"No, Valentine. I can't," Matt said honestly.

Pyg squeeled in absolute rage, taking two butcher knives out of his apron and swung at Matt, "Don't mock, you dare mock Pyg!" he said as Matt grabs him by the wrist and uses Pyg's momentum to swing him to the side.

"What was your plan, Lazlo?" Matt asked, referring to Pyg by his first name. "You come to my city. You kidnap some random people, you experiment on them and make them 'perfect'. Then what?" Matt asks rhetorically as he effortlessly moves his head away from Pyg's knife strikes.

Matt punches Pyg in the face, bringing him to his knees. "They can't speak. They can't reproduce. They can't make any real decisions. They're just empty husks." Pyg put his hands over his face and began sobbing again. "Stop this," he cried out. The vigilante looked over him. "No. You need to hear the truth. You think getting rid of our differences unites us. You're wrong. Our identities, our ability to make choices. They make us human."

He places a hand on Pyg's shoulder and crouches down. "You don't need to make the world perfect Lazlo. You don't have to help anyone. You can't even help yourself."

Pyg leans into Matt's shoulder and sobs out loud. Matt felt the urge to strangle the serial killer but used up all his will and refrained. A court of law should decide his fate not The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.

The teenager felt a presence behind him.

"We need to talk," a deep gravelly voice stated. Matt helped Pyg up and allowed Batman to handcuff him. "I was wondering when you'd show up," Matt said, dreading whatever lecture he was going to receive.

* * *

"I told you to only do recon work. Instead you directly disobeyed my orders and brought Robin into a dangerous situation with you!" Batman said, scolding Matt, all parties now standing on a rooftop a few blocks away from the crime scene. Robin interjected, "Batman, he didn't force me, I chose to go," he said but his mentor glared at him, making the boy go silent.

Robin sprained his wrist fighting the remaining dollotrons. He had received worse injuries in the past but it didn't stop Bruce from worrying. "Look, I made a decision. And I chose and innocent woman's life over my own safety. This is my city and these people are my responsibility. If I can save someone I will. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in my position," Matt said before Dick tried to defend him again.

Batman remained silent. He would have rushed in to save the woman, no questions asked but he disapproved of Matt's tactics. "True, but you could have taken Pyg out the moment you entered the room. Yet you wasted time by just disarming him, and talking." Matt shrugged, "Fair enough, but that man needs help and I don't think punching him in the face will give him that."

"Some people can't be saved Matt. You need to learn that soon," Batman said. Matt walked right up to the dark knight and 'stared' him directly in the eye, "I don't believe that. The man's a psycho but he's still a person. He deserves a chance to get better." Batman scoffed at that statement, 'Catholics and forgiveness. Dad would have loved this kid,' he thought, reminiscing all the Sundays he spent at church as a kid.

Batman notices that Matt was clutching his old wounds.

"You've aggravated your wounds from last night. Come with us to the penthouse, Alfred will take care of you. Besides, I think Miss Temple deserves a day off from stitching you back up," Batman said as he turned away from Matt and grappled to a nearby building. Matt just stood there confused. "How does he know all that?" he asked. Robin just shrugs and the two followed Batman.

"OW!" Matt exclaimed as Alfred cracked his elbow. For the past half hour, Alfred had been cracking Matt's bones in order to relieve any stress in his body. The teenager at first felt like it was torture but his body hasn't felt this relaxed in a long time.

The butler moves to his back, pressing down on it incrementally, making another crack sound. Matt sighed in relief after a brief outburst of pain. Before this chiropractic session, Alfred did a full physical evaluation of Matt and determined that he hadn't broken or torn anything in his body. He applied some ointment on his bruises, making the swelling subside and he gave him a cold protein shake to aid the healing process.

Matt takes the last swig of his shake as Alfred finishes up. "Where did you learn all of this?" he asked the British man. "I was trained by the best," he replied stoically. "Who?" Matt asked. The butler simply smiled, "British intelligence of course."

The teenager raised an eyebrow at that, "So you were like James Bond and you decided to become a butler?" Alfred gave Matt a refill of his drink and responded without a hint of sarcasm, "Master Murdock, James Bond's life is like that of a mall cop's compared to what I have to deal with on a nightly basis."

Matt drank his protein shake and shrugged, 'Can't be easy dealing with two vigilantes,' he thought. "Now sir," Alfred said, "I would recommend that you take minimum two weeks bed rest to allow the wounds that you have accumulated over the past month or so to heal properly, but judging by your excessive number of scars along with your exploits tonight I doubt you will heed my advice."

"Nope."

Alfred sighed, "You and master Bruce have far too much in common." Matt chuckled at that then turned slightly to address Alfred, "Oh, and by the way. Tell Bruce to stop fiddling with my stuff upstairs. I can hear it from down here, it's annoying."

The butler nodded, "Right away sir." Matt heard him mutter about failing to teach Bruce manners as a child but decided not to hone in on it. Alfred left some food for Matt to eat on the table. The meal contained egg whites, chicken and turkey breasts and salmon. A bid bland but Alfred added enough spices to make the food tolerable. "If Bruce chooses to eat food this bland, it's no wonder he's so grouchy."

The teenager put his plate in the sink after he was done and rinsed it out. He heard Dick sleeping in his bedroom. Alfred put some plaster on the boys sprained wrist with some mustard on it, which increases blood flow, aiding the healing process. Matt could still smell it from the kitchen.

Bruce came downstairs, his footsteps light as a feather riding air. Only reason Matt detected him was due to the way the air shifted around Bruce's body, something he had no control over. "I assume Dick's asleep?" Bruce asked gruffly, Matt noticing his tone was much lighter than it was on the rooftop.

"Yep," Matt said, not sure how this conversation was going to end up. The older hero sat at the table beckoning Matt to join him. He obliged and took a seat next to Bruce.

Noticing the scars all over Matt's body Bruce sighed. "Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked. "You've got to be in constant pain. I know from experience and on top of that you're still growing. One bad injury and your whole life could change for the worst. So I want to know. Why are you doing this?"

Matt sat there confused, he never thought Bruce would be the concerned type. "Because no one else will?"

Not satisfied with the answer Bruce decided to probe further. "What happened to your parents wasn't your fault. And what happened to the girl wasn't either," Matt sat silently as Bruce said that, anger bubbling up in his body. The teenager stood up and walked towards the stairs, ready to leave.

"I don't kill because of what happened with Mary. I study hard at school since my parents wanted me to become a lawyer. And I do the vigilante thing because I know what it's like to be helpless and in pain with no one hearing it out. Because I have the ability to do help them. Not everyone needs trauma to do the right thing Bruce."

Bruce stood up, his footsteps now heavy. Matt thought that he may have gone to far, instead he felt a warm strong hand on his shoulder. "Most of my rogues gallery have mental issues. It's a bit difficult to care about that when they try and blow up a building. If I'd given the care they needed sooner, maybe they could have gotten better. Maybe it would have saved more people's lives."

Matt stood there confused, a mix of emotions filling his systems. "If I were in your position with Pyg, I would have knocked him out and not even attempted to converse with him. But you, you took the time to talk with him. To make him act somewhat retrospectively. Something which might benefit him during his mental recovery process. You did the right thing."

Alfred walked down the steps into the kitchen, a folder in hand. "Sir, the files you requested." Bruce takes them, "Thank you Alfred." The billionaire passes the folder to Matt, who opens it and rubs his fingers over the papers inside, which were printed in braille.

Matt's eyes opened as wide as plates, "This is. Wait this….." he said incoherently. Bruce continued his sentence, "I've arranged for your mother to be given care from a coma specialist in Germany. I made it look like some of her colleagues in her previous law firm gave in a good word. The money, while it technically came from me will be officially provided by a legal loophole in your mother's insurance policy. Her chances at waking up are still slim but it's the best I could do."

Matt's eyes water as he drops the file, he holds Bruce in a crushing hug and sniffs. "Thank you, Thank you so much!" he said, unable to stop crying. Alfred gestures Bruce to hug the teen back, seeing his surrogate son unsure of what to do. Bruce acquiesced and awkwardly places his arms on Matt's back, in a faux hug like act.

The teenager laughed, "Alfred, you know I can tell you did that right?" Alfred smirked, seeing the young hero's smug expression. Bruce coughed, telling Matt he was hugging the larger man for far too long.

"Alfred, pack up his things and drop him home," Bruce said. Alfred, already expecting the command was halfway to the staircase before Bruce finished his command. The billionaire hands Matt an ear sized communicator. "I doubt this will be the last time we meet, and I'd rather not beat you in a fight the next time we meet."

Matt scoffed at that sentence, "If I recall, I was the one beating you the first half of the fight." Bruce glares at Matt, the teenager more affected by the change on heart rate than the look he was getting. "Anyway, I'll get going." Matt said as he ran back up stairs, afraid that Bruce might start another fight.

As Matt started helping Alfred pack up Bruce received a text on his phone. ' _ **CLARK: Hey, how's the Big Apple?**_ ' Bruce sighed, wanting to ignore him. ' _ **CLARK: You better reply, or I'll fly over there.**_ '

Rubbing his head Bruce texted Clark again, ' _ **BRUCE: Call me on the proper channel.'**_ Seconds later Bruce received a familiar beeping from the communicator in his ear.

"What have I told you about texting?" Bruce said, attempting to reprimand the big boy scout. "That normal people do it all the time and you should try?"

Bruce sighed again, 'This is the most powerful man in the world,' he thought in exasperation. "Anyway, you said you had eyes on a potential new recruit? Any chance it's the Devil of Hell's Kitchen?" Clark asked.

"He's too green. Give him a couple years he could grow up to be one of the best of us," Bruce said, not a hint of doubt coming from his voice.

Clark was impressed, "High praise coming from you. What about inducting him when we integrate the sidekicks into the league next year?"

"I thought about that. Seems to be enough time for him to get his city in order. Hell's Kitchen is nearly as bad as Gotham. Luckily it's a lot smaller," Bruce said.

Bruce received a message from Alfred saying he's in the car with Matt. "I'll come by every other week. Check his progress, give him a few pointers but he's doing a much better job than me when I first started."

Clark opened his mouth to say something when Bruce interjects, "Street crime isn't your forte Clark. The less you get involved the better."

"I'll see you at the watchtower tomorrow, Batman out." He cuts the call and takes the communicator from his ear.

He goes upstairs to check on Dick. A father has responsibilities after all.

Matt was tired. The moment he entered Bruce's limo he slumped over and fell asleep. Alfred's voice was like velvet so it made the task much easier. The butler offered to help Matt with his bags but he insisted that the older man go back to the penthouse and rest himself. "If only I could afford the luxury of rest," Alfred said as he drove away into the distance.

Coming back home after what happened the past couple days felt odd. Meeting Batman and Robin, faceless bodies, zombie men and a mentally ill serial killer made the everyday problems he was forced to hear sound so petty. "Honey the dishes aren't washed." "What do you mean my cable's canceled?" "It's 6 in the morning, get off your ass and walk the dog." The complaints he heard in his apartment just seemed so childish. They're lucky to be alive with their families and they can't see it.

Matt heard a familiar heartbeat as he walked upstairs. 'Speaking of family.' He opened the door and was greeted by the sound of his brother snoring on the couch.

"Welcome back dumbass," Matt said quietly as he went to his room and collapsed on his bed.

* * *

 **Yes, the next chapter will be taking place during episode 1 of YJ! Hopefully this chapter was to your liking, let me know in the comments. Until next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Team:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Sunday, July 4th, 2010:**

Matt vaulted over another rooftop, struggling slightly to keep up with his target. 'This is embarrassing,' he thought as he used his billy club to swing across to a building on the other side of the street. He detected a large mechanical presence mere feet in front of him.

'First that leap frog guy a couple weeks ago, now this clown,' Matt thought as he pondered why he had such lame 'super villains'. Though Bullseye is technically more of an assassin than a super villain. 'Of all the times to get a new villain it had to be today!' Matt thought as he prepared to jump atop his new enemy. A loud thud emanated from the metal body as the teenager tried to get a foothold on the metal chassis.

"Ok…..um…...Stilt-Man. It's over,' Matt said, not even sure why he just said something so cringe inducing. The vigilante was on the back of a metal body that was host to a pair of mechanical arms and legs. The latter of which was capable of extending dozens of feet allowing Stilt-man to take incredibly long strides. He apparently tried this a few years ago to rob a bank. Fortunately, his suit malfunctioned back then and he was put away for being a public nuisance seeing as though he hadn't hurt anyone then. Well, two police officers and three civilians are in the hospital because of him and he's trying to make away with $300,000 in cash from a bank.

The villain tried grabbing at Matt but couldn't reach around to get him. Realising that that action was fruitless he elected to extend his legs further and walk faster. This however only made Matt grip his back even harder. 'What the hell am I going to do now?' He thinks to himself wondering how this is going to look like in the news.

Matt heard the rustling of leaves, the smell of dog faeces and the sound of families and children running around. 'I'm near Central Park aren't I?'

The people at the park were running in terror as the massive metal legs narrowly avoided crushing them. Stilt-man sees this and gets an idea. He walks towards the reservoir in the park and spots a girl in a wheelchair. "Perfect," Matt heard as they made their way to the disabled girl.

Stilt-man stood in front of the girl and slowly raised his leg over the girl. Matt heard the villains heart rate. He wasn't bluffing. As the foot lowered Matt jumped off the back of the chassis and extended his Billy club to one of the trees, swinging towards the girl, grabbing her barely before she got crushed by Stilt-man.

Matt checked the girl for any injuries. She had a broken leg covered in a cast, hence the wheelchair but was otherwise fine. The teenager turned towards the mechanical sounds walking away from him.

The teenager sniffed the air as a new aroma filled his nostrils. Oil. There was a small leak in the armour not visible to the eye. Matt just needed to get close enough to detect it's exact location.

As he ran out of the park he spotted a few squad cars in pursuit of Stilt-man. One of them stopped next to Matt and a door opened to greet him.

"Come on, get in," a familiar voice said. Matt smirked as he got into the car with detective Blake.

Once they were close enough to him, Matt pressed a button on his Billy club and shot a line towards Stilt-man's head, the line wrapping around his armoured neck. He propelled himself up to the villain and tapped his armour, sensing the reverberations for any weak points.

He stopped when he finally detected one. He propelled down his line and removed his second Billy club.

Matt now carried two Billy clubs, both of which had a button that propelled the second half as a grappling hook, so that Matt didn't half to flick his wrist every time he needed to use it. Like before each Billy club could be turned into two smaller batons and a new feature was added. They also had a telescopic function, allowing to extend beyond their normal length.

The teenager extended his second Billy club and drove it straight into the back of the mechanical knee. Black oil splurged out along with the hydraulic fluid. Stilt-man's costume starts jerking back and forth and Matt could hear the sound of the metal straining in his armour.

He uses his second Billy club to grapple onto the side of Blake's squad car, attaches to two Billy clubs together and jumps onto a nearby lamppost.

Blake put his foot to the accelerator and his car shot forward. Stilt-man realised that Daredevil's cable was still attached to his neck but by the time he figured that out it was too late.

The car was dragging him back ward and he could do nothing to stop it. As the metal legs of his armour buckled back he fell on top of a building. He took off his metal helmet and spat out blood, happy to still be breathing.

But a red figure suddenly came into his view. "Oh shit," he cried out as Daredevil picked up Stilt-man's helmet. "You tried to kill a little girl," Matt said calmly as stood over the fallen villain.

Before the robber could reply Matt raised his foot and violently stomped on to Stilt-man's exposed face. His jaw broke in half, his teeth swimming in a pool of blood forming and leaking from his destroyed mouth.

A small smirk formed around Matt's mouth as he heard bubbles escape the man's bloody mouth.

'Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?' Matt thought as he jumped off the building into a nearby alley. His hand went to his forehead, he heard that man in pain and he was enjoying it. He could rationalise it by saying he was avenging the girl in the wheelchair but that didn't stop the guilt.

He heard the police climbing up the stairs to the building and cars surrounding Stilt-man and his armour. Matt was about to grapple away when the communicator in his ear started buzzing. He puts his index finger on his left ear and answers the call.

"Kid, you're gonna be late!" a deep voice said on the other side. Matt panicked and started running towards the nearest zeta beam station. "Thanks, Mark, see ya later!" Matt said cutting the call. After coming back from his month long absence Matt and Mark spent a lot of time talking. About Matt's training, his nightly activities, their parents. Mark understood his adoptive brother's motives but was less than keen on his brutal tactics, especially when Matt confessed that he killed an innocent girl going after Bullseye.

Mark saw it as an action in self-defence but still, he couldn't understand how his little brother could be capable of doing what he did every night. So they argued, sparred, and argued for months on end until they realised that Matt was never going to ease up on the criminals of Hell's Kitchen. He couldn't afford to.

That being said, Matt could finally stop walking around eggshells with his brother and was a lot more open. His abilities still freaked Mark out, especially when he realised that Matt heard every private phone call with his girlfriend.

Matt never discussed the dichotomy of his urge to hurt, to kill even and his Catholic belief to never kill another living person. He didn't feel like his brother could give him the answers he needed. On several occasions, Matt stood in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, his childhood Church, where he confessed, the night after he became a vigilante that he was about to do something sinful. But the sound of the priest's soothing voice and the sheer presence of the place made him apprehensive. He didn't want his sins abolished, he didn't think he was worthy of such a luxury. So he walked away, for months.

Batman came and visited New York a handful of times, with Robin accompanying him on occasion. They would patrol the city, Batman would undermine Daredevil's performance, give him some tips and undermine him again. But Matt knew that was Bruce's way of making him improve on his skills.

Those patrols were useful, his forensics abilities have furthered much faster in the few nights he spent with Batman. He could analyse a crime scene much more efficiently, he noticed things that he never even looked for that helped him track down many criminals. One case in particular hinged on the cleanliness of a man's shoes.

But Matt couldn't stand making casual conversation with the Dark Knight. The teenager wasn't even sure if Bruce was capable of such a thing. Thankfully Dick more than compensated on that front. Sure, they would share notes on crime fighting, and gave each other pointers in terms of combat, with Matt giving Robin more advice on that front but the two boys do enjoy talking to each other. It wasn't often they met someone of a similar age that did what they did.

Matt finally found the old phone box in a run down alley. "I hate these things." The dynamic duo showed Matt how to operate a Zeta Beam, they even gave him a designation 'B00.' But the first time he used the teleportation technology, he ended up vomiting for ten minutes straight and felt like he was in the inside of a watermelon being boiled in an oven.

"Suck it up, Matt. Today's the day," he said, a smile plastered on his face as he heard the whirring of the Zeta beam firing up. " _ **Recognized, Daredevil B00.**_ "

* * *

 **Hall of Justice, Washington DC, July 4th, 2010:**

Matt decided to be transported directly into the Hall of Justice, he didn't feel like a walk up from the outside was necessary. Plus, the world believed that the Devil of Hell's kitchen was an adult, no need to get the conspiracy theorists buzzing with images of him walking alongside the sidekicks and their mentors.

The teenager stayed in the shadows, ignoring the chattering of the press that was stood above him, behind a pane of missile resistant glass. He chuckled slightly, Robin had told him that one of his best friends, Lakshmi was on various Daredevil message boards. She was one of the few people to subscribe to the notion that Daredevil was a younger man, maybe in his late teens or early 20's. Hell, she was one of the first people online to say that he would probably get the attention of major Justice Leaguers.

Matt took extra care not to talk about Daredevil in front of her, despite the entire school gossiping about New York's first superhero non-stop. She was clever, and it didn't take a genius to notice Matt's never-ending cycle of bruises and cuts. Even Britt was getting suspicious about his activities. If it weren't for his blindness they would have figured out his secret identity a long time ago.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sea of camera lights flickering on and off as dozens of reporters started to take pictures. The camera's buzzed and newsmen and women talked as the heroes and sidekicks started turning up.

A large boom was heard, Matt rubbing his ears at the sound. The screeching of two pairs of feet on the pavement signalled that the Flashes had arrived. "Oh man, I knew we'd be the last ones here," a young voice said. Matt assumed that was kid flash, he shook his head at the irony of the speedsters statement.

As the colourfully dressed men and boys made their way to the entrance of the Hall, the onlookers started making their comments. "Is that Batman." "Look, it's the Flash. And Flash junior." "His name's Speedy." "No, Speedy's Green Arrow's sidekick." "Well, that makes no sense."

Matt couldn't disagree with the last few statements. He felt his heart beating, not just his, Kid Flash's heart sounded like a stampede. Even Robin's and Speedy's were fluttering. The only one completely calm was Aqualad's. Thought Matt wasn't familiar enough with Atlantean or speedster physiology to say whether or not that was normal, yet.

Green Arrow placed his hand on his protege's shoulder, "Ready to see the inner sanctum?" he asks. "Born that way," Speedy replies. A calm voice followed, "I am glad we're here," Aqualad said, taking in the view of the building.

"Have all four sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid flash asks rhetorically, though it was immediately followed by a comment from Speedy. "DON'T. Call us sidekicks. Not after today."

'Wow, and I thought I was edgy,' Matt thought. Kid Flash frowns, "Sorry. First time at the hall. I'm a little overwhelmed." Robin looks at the speedster, "You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

The eight of them finally entered the hall and were greeted with the giant, golden statues of the founding members of the Justice League. Their might personified and standing right infront of them. "Oh, maybe that's why," Robin said, wide eyed as he looked at the ancient greek like statues before him.

They walked in front of a sliding metal door, " **AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY** " Plastered on it. The door opens, revealing Red Tornado and Martian Manhunter. Matt, still hiding in the shadows noticed them before but couldn't identify them.

Martian Manhunter walks towards the sidekicks. "Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome." He says, barely an emotion leaking from his voice. The tall alien turns around and enters the room behind him. Robin and Kid Flash fist bump each other as they all made their way into the restricted area of the hall.

"You now have access to the gym, our fully staffed gallery and of course, our library," Martian Manhunter said. 'Finally, they're here.' Matt thought, still hiding in the shadows. Flash turned to the sidekicks and opened up his arms, "Make yourselves at home," he said as a friendly smile effortlessly formed on his face.

Robin lept into the nearest armchair, followed by Kid Flash doing the same on the one next to him, Aqualad simply sat in his and let his arm casually fall to the side. Speedy was the only one not to take a seat. Before he started talking Batman turned to the only area in the library with a trace of shade.

"I know you're here. You can come out now," he said as a figure in a dark red suit emerged from the darkness. The press behind the glass gasped as they saw Daredevil in the room. No one was expecting him to show up today and there weren't any clear pictures of him in the red suit. This was going to be the scoop of the year.

Before they could take any pictures, however, all their cameras stopped working. Matt heard a small click form Batman's belt and felt a slight electric aura in the air. 'EMP took out the cameras. Thanks, Bat's' he thought as he shook the larger vigilantes hand.

Matt had grown since he first met Bruce. Without the suit, he stood at 5'10 and now weighed 190 pounds. He had Melvin make him a new suit whenever he outgrew an older one. The mentally challenged armourer never complained, it just gave him an opportunity to experiment with new materials and gadgets.

The new grapple hook/billy clubs were a new edition. Matt's armour also had a layer of impact absorbing liquid inside his armour, flowing through a honeycomb structure, it made him look much taller and larger but it did nothing to slow him down and it made his armour much more protective. He still had a heat and electricity resistant Nomex outer layer, making the costume look like normal cloth on first glance, but that was an advantage seeing as though it made Matt seem like he never needs armour to be with which either lure criminals into a false sense of security or makes them soil their pants.

"I was not aware that we had a guest," Martian Manhunter said, startled at Matt's sudden appearance. Daredevil shook his hand as well. He has his helmet lined with lead, in case he faced any psychics in the future, he was pleased to see it worked on Martians too.

Aquaman was next to greet Daredevil, "I have been following your exploits. You do fine work son," Daredevil was a bit flustered, not sure how to greet the king. "Your majesty, I heard about what you did about that oil spill. You and Aqualad saved a lot of lives that day," he said, deepening his voice.

Batman noticed that his fake voice sounded much more natural than it did before. Aquaman smiles, "Aye, the surface world and the ocean are interconnected. One cannot survive without the other."

Matt made his way to Green Arrow, "Looks like Bat's over here has a little competition on the whole intimidation factor," the Archer said cheekily. Batman simply gave him one of his infamous glares making the bearded hero regret his statement. Matt shook his hand, "I actually used a variation of the strategy you used on Damien Darkh's stronghold against a mob armoury. It saved my life."

Green Arrow blushed slightly at the compliment, "You give me way too much credit." Speedy scoffs, "Yeah, you really are," he said recollecting that night and how Oliver's 'plan' came tumbling down the moment they entered the building and how they had to improvise the whole assault.

"Back to the matter at hand," Batman said as the adult leaguers gathered around him. "A quick debrief regarding the 'coincidence' of four ice villains attacking the same day." He turns his head to Daredevil and the sidekicks, "We shouldn't be long."

He turns to the door saying "JUSTICE LEAGUE MEMBERS ONLY", and looks up. A small camera like mechanism lowers down and emits a blue light, scanning the heroes. " _ **Recognised. Batman, 02. Aquaman, 06. Flash, 04. Green Arrow, 08. Martian Manhunter, 07. Red Tornado, 16.**_ " The door opens, but before the heroes could enter they were greeted by the disgruntled voice of Speedy.

"That's it?" he asked. "You promised us a real look inside. Not a glorified backstage pass." Aquaman decided to answer him, "It's the first step. You've been granted access few others get." Speedy simply points to the gaggle of journalists behind the glass, still baffled as to how their equipment was scrambled. "Oh really?" he asks rhetorically, still pointing to the glass.

"Who cares which side of the glass we're on?"

Green Arrow steps forward, "Roy, you just need to be patient." Matt hoped that the other side of the glass was soundproof, the last thing the press needed was a sidekicks secret identity. Roy looked at his mentor with an angry expression, "What I need is respect. They're treating us like kids," he says to the young heroes sitting in the chairs. "Worse, like sidekicks. All of us," he said, directing his attention to Daredevil.

Matt stands there expressionless. Speedy continues, "We deserve better than this." The remaining four young heroes look at each other, not sure what to say. Matt decided to break the tension, "Better how? It's not like their going to let us fight an alien army on our first day."

Speedy's eyes open wide in surprise, "You're kidding right?. Today was supposed to be 'The Day'. Step one in becoming full fledged members of the League." Kid Flash shuffled awkwardly, "Well. Sure. But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ," he said.

"Except the Hall isn't the leagues real HQ!" Speedy said angrily. Matt detected the heart rates of a few leaguers elevate when he said that. "This ought to be good," he said sarcastically, folding his arms. The sidekicks look at Roy, shocked expressions across their faces. Speedy clenches his fists, "Sure, if you consider our mentors not even telling us that this place is a false front for tourists good. This place is just a pit stop for catching Zeta beam teleporter tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the watchtower."

Matt almost choked on his spit hearing that. With a solemn face, Green Arrow faced Batman, who was crossing his arms, expecting an explanation. "I know, I know but I thought that maybe we could make an exception?" he asked meekly. Batman just stared at him, making Oliver's face droop down, "Or not."

Aquaman steps towards Speedy, "You are not helping your cause here son. Stand down. Or.."

"Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son. I'm not even his," Roy says, raising his voice, looking at Green Arrow. "I thought I was his partner. But not anymore." He takes off his yellow cap and throws it to the floor. The statement shocking Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Daredevil.

Roy makes his way to the exit and he passes by the three teenagers and says, "Guess they're right about you four. You're not ready." They sit up and Daredevil shrugs, 'I've never been a sidekick,' he thinks as he hears the former sidekick leave the library.

Suddenly a transmission is broadcasted on the computer monitors in the building. Matt couldn't see who was speaking but he recognised the voice, every kid on the planet would. "Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at project Cadmus. It's on fire."

Batman looks up to his teammate on the monitor. "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus. This may present the perfect opportunity for..." his sentence was cut short by an alarm going off. "Zatara to Justice League. The sorcerer Wotan is using the Amulet of Bhaten to blot out the sun. Requesting full league response."

Batman looks at Superman, "Superman?" he asks. The Kryptonian answers, "It's a small fire. Local authorities have it under control." "Then Cadmus can wait," Batman says ending the transmission. "All leaguers, rendezvous at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out."

Daredevil and the sidekicks walk towards the adult heroes. "Stay put," Batman says. Robin raises his hands in protest, "What? Why?" Aquaman puts his hands on his hips, "This, is a League mission." "You're not trained.." Flash added.

"Since when?" Kid Flash interrupted. "I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team," the Scarlet speedster says, gesturing to the other League members. "There will be other missions. When you're ready," Aquaman says.

"But for now. Stay. Put," Batman says, ending any sort of discussion. The four young heroes are visibly saddened by this interaction. "Glad you didn't bring you know who?" Green Arrow asks Martian Manhunter, a comment that piques Matt's interest. "Indeed," the alien replies as the two make their way to the zeta beam with the others.

Red Tornado waits for the other Leaguers to enter the zeta room. He looks at the young heroes for a moment and then joins the rest of his peers. The door shuts behind him, leaving the four teenagers confused and alone.

* * *

Kid Flash was first to break the silence, "When we're ready? How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like sidekicks?" he said, saying the last word like it burned his mouth. Aqualad looks down in shame, "My mentor, my king. I thought he trusted me."

The two continue on, "Trust us?" Kid Flash says incredulously. "They don't even trust us with the basics. They have a flying HQ in SPACE!" the speedsters says, throwing his arms upward just to accentuate that fact. "What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad asks.

Robin sighs, "I have a better question. Why didn't we go with Speedy?"

"Because you're not impulsive idiots," Daredevil says. "Trust me. Going solo isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have the scars to prove it. Besides, keeping secrets is part of the job. You want to whine about how you're mentors lied to you, be my guest. What we should be doing is finding out what Cadmus is and trying to help the people stuck in that fire."

Matt's comment brought the three out of their state of self-pity. "What is Project Cadmus?" Aqualad asks. "I don't know," Robin replied. "But I can find out," he said as a playful smirk enters his lips. The thirteen-year-old starts typing away at the keyboard in the library. After a few moments, an artificial voice says, " _ **Access Denied.**_ "

"Ha, wanna bet?" Robin says, the joy on his face visible to all. Except for Matt of course. The boy wonder punches in a few more letters and he starts breaking down the firewall. "How. Are you doing that?" Kid Flash asks, barely keeping up with the code displayed on the screen.

Robin leans forward to the screen, still typing away. "Same system as the Batcave," he replied. " _ **Access granted.**_ " The voice now said. Robin pulls up the relevant files. "Alright, Project Cadmus. Genetics lab lab here in DC. That's all there is. But if Batman's suspicious maybe we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice," Aqualad says, smiling slightly. Robin leans back and forth, "Hey, they're all about justice." The Atlantean sighs, "But they said to stay put."

Daredevil steps in, "Batman told me and Robin to just do recon on a serial killer. We didn't, we went in and confronted that psycho, head on. If we hadn't an innocent woman would have died. Besides, it's only a fire, what could go wrong?"

Kid Flash puts his hand on Matt's shoulder and turns him around, "Wait. So you're going to Cadmus?" Robin puts his hand up, "Hey, I am too." The speedster rubs his hands together, "Well if you two are going, then I'm going too."

The three turn to Aqualad. Robin and Kid Flash put on awkward smiles to try and convince him. "We could really use a water guy to put out the fires," Matt added, refusing to smile like that.

"Just like that?" Aqualad asks, "We're a team on a mission." "We didn't come for a playdate," Robin says. Aqualad replies with a determined look on his face.

* * *

It was dusk, the firemen have been trying to douse the flames for hours. All the men were tired and covered in soot but they kept going, they had people to save. A job to do.

Water was still being poured on the fire when two scientists cried out for help. The chief of the firefighters responded with a megaphone. "Stay calm, we will get you down." He says, his voice echoing across the street.

An explosion occurs behind the scientists, and they fly out of the window. Someone dressed in red swung by and grabbed one whilst the other was saved by a yellow blur. Kid flash runs up to the top of the building and throws his scientist on to the roof but slips himself and barley catches a hold on to a window sill below.

Daredevil brought the scientist he saved to the ground. One of the firemen runs over to help him up, two others see Kid Flash hanging from the window. "It's what's his name!" the chief exclaims, "Uh...Flash Boy." Kid Flash looks down annoyed, "Kid. Flash. Why is that so hard?"

"You. You're Daredevil right?" Matt nodded, "Nice to see you got my name right," he said, annoying Kid Flash even further. "Aim your hoses twelve degrees lower. You'll have a better chance of dousing the flames that way. Trust me."

The chief obliged, instructing his men to do so. Matt hears Robin's and Aqualad's heartbeats near by and joins them. "There's still one more person on the second floor, but on the bright side the fire should be out soon."

Robin sees Kid Flash hanging from the window and giggles, "So smooth." Aqualad looks at his teammate with a serious expression, "Does he always have to run ahead?" he asks with a condescending tone. "We need a plan, we need.." he turns around to see that Robin had already disappeared.

Aqualad and Daredevil hear Robins signature laugh. "I hate it when he does that," Matt says under his breath. Robin jumps onto the firetruck, grapples onto the elevated ladder and swings into the top floor window, helping Kid Flash up before he fell out the window.

The atlantean turns to Daredevil. "I will take care of the man Kid Flash put on the roof, you save that person on the second floor." Matt nods in agreement as he uses his billy club to scale up to the second floor. He breaks the glass window and hones in on the heartrate of the person. He hears the beat of the heart surrounded by the creaking of wood. The smoke made his eyes water and throat sore but he pressed on further into the flames.

His suit's nomex layer was protecting him as well as his temperature regulation techniques, assets this person stuck under a burning log didn't have. Matt finds them and runs towards them. "Alright, I'm gonna need you to push ok, I can't lift this on my own. Ready?" the man under the log nods slowly. Matt counts to three and lifts the heavy log with the help of the scientist.

Matt slings the man's arm around his shoulder and slowly walks him toward the window. He lowers them both onto the ground with his billy club. He notices that Aqualad is manipulating the fire engines water with his water bearers and he propelled himself up to the roof with a water tornado.

"Climb aboard. Now," he says as the scientist trepidatiously steps onto the water funnel. Aqualad lowers themselves down, he steps off onto the window sill and lowers the scientist to the firemen below. Daredevil makes his way up to the others as well.

"Appreciate the assistance," Aqualad says scornfully as Robin was typing around on a computer in the building and Kid Flash was looking through some folders in a file cabinet. "Yeah, it's not like we had civies to save or anything," Daredevil added as he came through the window.

Robin smiled, "You two handled it. Besides, we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?" Matt turned his head, hearing an odd heartbeat further inside the building, he gestured Aqualad to follow him as he walked towards the heartbeat, billy club in hand.

As they pass a few cubicles, they find an elevator, within it a humanoid figure, skinny as a rake, large horns adorning its head. Daredevil senses the outline thanks to his radar sense. The elevator closes and Matt here's it lowering far further and faster than it possibly should considering the buildings size.

"There was something in there," Aqualad said with some disbelief as Kid Flash and Robin appeared behind him. "Elevator shaft should be shut down," the speedster said making his way towards the elevator till Robin grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "It sounded like an Express elevator. Robin.." Matt said till the acrobat stopped him mid sentence, "On it."

Matt put his hand to the ground near the elevator while Robin looked up some schematics on his wrist mounted computer. "This is wrong," the boy wonder said, pulling up the design specs of a Silver Slip Express elevator "DD's right, this is a high speed Express elevator. No way this belongs in a two story building."

Ignoring Robin's 'DD' abbreviation of his name Matt stood up, "That's because it isn't a two story building. The elevator goes down at least thirty stories more and that's not the weirdest part." Aqualad pipped in, "Are you referring to what we saw within the elevator?"

"I wish. There are hundreds of footsteps in the floors below us, only a handful of them from human sized creatures. Most of them are tiny, judging from the resonance I'd have to say they're no larger than squirrels. There are dozens more that sound like stampeding elephants. Plus I can smell gunpowder, so the humanoid ones must be armed. Some of them anyway." Matt said making Aqualad and Kid Flash look at him with a surprised expression.

"Wait, wait, wait. How do you know that?" Kid Flash asked, sniffing the air in an attempt to get a whiff of gunpowder. Matt gave him a snide smile, "I asked a talking snake," he replied sarcastically. "Oh ha ha," Kid Flash replied in kind, the red head annoyed at the answer.

Aqualad elected to ignore the childish back and forth between his team mates and opened the doors of the elevator, straining slightly in doing so. His eyes opened wide when he looked down into the abyss that was the elevator shaft, the columns had been set up with numerous lights.

"Yep, that's why they need an express elevator," Robin said as he removed the grappling gun from his belt. He aimed it upwards and shot his line into the top of the elevator shaft. Daredevil did the same with his billy club. Robin immediately lowered himself downwards on the line. Aqualad grabbed onto the lowering line and went down it fireman style.

Matt grabbed Kid Flash just above the waist and lowered them both down. "This is so emasculating," the speedster said, blushing slightly. "Trust me man, you're not my type," Matt said.

Robin continued going downwards, his cape fluttering in the wind. He stopped, "At the end of my line here," he said informing the team. He swung back slightly, building momentum for his dismount and he jumps a few feet in front of him and lands on the railing of the closed elevator door.

He shimmies to the right as Aqualad makes the same jump. Daredevil, a few feet left of Robins line makes the jump and after shimmying to the left, allows Kid Flash the space to do the same, helping the speedster up when he slipped slightly.

Robin opens up his computer and bypasses Cadmus' security, disabling the alarms, giving Aqualad the opportunity to open the elevator doors. The teens enter the hallway that the elevator led to and saw what looked like pods in the walls. "Welcome to project Cadmus," Robin said, getting a layout of his surroundings.

"Those elephant sized things are around the corner of the hallway," Daredevil said, grabbing Kid Flash. "Don't even think of running off, you'll alert those things."

They hide behind the pods as the 'elephant sized things' made there way past the corridor. Matt could tell they looked grotesque judging by the physiological changes his teammates displayed when they walked past. They walked like gorillas on all fours yet their faces looked like a demonic catfish, the tusks that were at the sides of their mouths didn't help matters. They had spikes on their shoulders and had a stone grey hide, but a white underbelly.

Matt noticed tiny heartbeats on the tops of their heads. "What are those?" he whispered, pointing to the top of the giant creatures heads. "I dunno, kinda looks like if Gollum and the Devil had a miniature baby, no offence," Kid Flash said as one of these tiny creatures looks on their direction, despite being hidden and it's horns start to glow.

"None taken, trust me," Matt replied, taking slight offence at Kid Flashes assumption that being compared to the Devil would offend him, ironically.

The creatures horns glow again, and Matt's teammates look like they are in a trance. "No. Nothing odd going on here," Aqualad says, his dialogue stretched out like he was in a drunken stupor. Matt gives his teammates a confused expression, "Nothing going on? Dude, then what's that?" he whispers as he points to the end of the line of monsters.

"What's what?" Robin replies. Matt puts his fingers to his brow, "Mind control. Great!" he exclaims as the four exit cover.

* * *

Dr. Desmond has spent the past few hours, isolating the correct genes required for his biotech force enhancement project, codenamed, " **BLOCKBUSTER.** " The stabilizing agent would be a rare alien crystal, bequeathed to him by his 'business partners.' His long, ponytailed brown hair was disheveled and it was evident by the dirt on his glasses and 5 o'clock shadow that he was awake for a long time.

He was inspired by the project his idol Dr. Abraham Erskine was made famous by. Or infamous in some circles. " **The Super Soldier Serum** " Captain America was the world's first and sadly only successful super soldier. Many scholars credit him for the allies getting the upper hand during the superhuman arms race during the second world war.

Everyone's attempts at recreating Dr. Erskine's success with Steve Rogers, but to no avail. The subjects either broke down physically, had a psychological meltdown or just died. But none of them had the technology Cadmus possessed. And in Dr. Desmond's mind, none of them had the grace of his genius. Why settle for a Super Soldier like Captain America who was at best peak human, when he was capable of making someone so much more.

His work was interrupted by Guardian, the blue and gold, calm, level headed, head of security of Project Cadmus. "Dr. Desmond," he said. "Tell me Guardian, what part of no interruptions do you not understand?" the scientist asks the Gold and blue clad man, as he placed a neon blue test tube into a containment unit that housed multiple samples of the Blockbuster serum.

Guardian walked in further, the Genomorph on his shoulder was scratching its shoulder. "A genome on sub level twenty six reported that there are three intruders," Guardian said, referring to the small, psychic creature that spotted the teens, except Daredevil.

Dr. Desmond gave a deep sigh of condescension, "Did I miss a perimeter breach alert?" Guardian gave him an equally condescending look, "No," he replied tersely.

"Then the genome is clearly confused. Whatever may occur in our faux lab up on the ground, the real Cadmus is the. Most. secure. Facility in DC," the scientist replied, not even giving Guardian the courtesy of looking at him as the good doctor was too busy looking through a microscope.

"And it's my job to keep it that way," Guardian replied, arms behind his back. "Fine, take a squad," Dr. Desmond said, Guardian nodding in acknowledgment. The skinny, demon like creature Matt and Aqualad saw in the top levels walked behind Guardian.

Excluding his massive horns protruding from his forehead he was not as tall as Guardian. His head was disproportionately big for his skinny body. He had a mute blue skin colour and elf like ears. Two long protrusions that resembled stalactites were found under his small v shaped chin.

"Might I recommend Guardian leave his Genome behind," he said with a reverberating yet gentle voice. "If violence should occur," Guardian looked at his genome. "The little guy would be in my way."

"No!" Dr. Desmond responded immediately. "The advantage of instant telepathic communication outweighs other concerns," he said, scratching another genome below the chin like one might do to a puppy. Said genome's horns start to glow, it's gaze focussing on Guardian's genom, whose horns start glowing too.

"I need my genome with me at all times," he says in a hypnotic trance, giving a bow too Dr. Desmond before exiting the lab. The skinny blue demon like being leaves moments after.

Dr. Desmond ensures that the door is closed before getting back to his research.

* * *

Robin starts hacking the thick metal door. "So you're saying you saw giant gorilla monsters the size of elephants who were giving rides to small Devil-Gollum creatures with psychic powers?" Kid Flash asks Matt, wondering if the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was one some sort of drug. "No, you guys saw it. I mean, you saw it too. How do you explain the impressions in the ground?" Matt asks as he put his hand on the dense metal floor.

"What impressions?" Kid Flash asked as he couldn't see anything of the sort. 'Jesus, and they say I'm blind,' Matt thinks to himself.

As the door slides open the other teens look down in awe. "Ok, I'm officially whelmed." The room was large and grey, the only light source being these insect like creatures stuck in vats that had a bioluminescent light source in their lower abdomens, similar to that of a firefly. These creatures lined massive rows that reached as high as the ceiling.

The odd part was that they seemed to generate electricity as well, and were powering a large, arch shaped door in front of them.

"This is how they hide all this from the world. The real Cadmus is powered here, it's off the grid. It generates its own power with these….things," Kid Flash said, hesitating slightly when trying to label the massive human sized, electricity generating insects. "It must be what they're bred for," he continued.

"Even the name is a clue," Aqualad added, "The Cadmus of myth created new life by sowing dragon's teeth into the earth." Robin looks at the atlantean, "And this Cadmus creates new life too. Let's find out why," the boy wonder says, plugging a usb port into one of the computer systems nearby.

After going through some information he stumbles on what he wanted to know, "They're called Genomorphs. Woah, look at the stats on these things. Supers strength, telepathy, razor claws. These are living weapons," Robin said, taken aback by what he discovered.

"They're engineering an army," Kid Flash said. "Yeah, and the telepathic ones must be keeping the less intelligent ones in order. I'm guessing they're designed to follow their creators commands. My priest would be calling blasphemy right about now," Matt added, trying to add some levity to the situation in an attempt to make sure they don't get sucked into the gravity of their situation.

Matt turned his head, "Guys. Movement coming from the corridor. Adult male and nearly a dozen human sized Genomorphs with a small telepathic one. We need to get out of here."

"Wait, there's something else," Robin said. "Project Kr. Damn, the files triple encrypted, I can't..." Robin was interrupted by a booming voice. "Stop right there," Guardian said as his entourage of Genomorphs, human sized with razor claws attempted to surround the heroes.

Guardian looked at the intruders with some confusion, "Robin, Aqualad, Daredevil, Kid Flash?" Robin smirked, "At least he got your name right," he said to Kid Flash, continuing to hack the computer. "We need to cover Robin till he decrypts those files," Matt said under his breath so only the three could hear him.

"Agreed," Aqualad said quietly. "I know you," Aqualad said to Guardian, trying to bide time. "Guardian, a hero." The armored man stood slightly straighter, "I do my best," he said. Kid Flash steps forward, "Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm chief of security," Guardian replied, putting his hands on his hips. "You're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League's gonna approve of you making weapons?" Kid Flash asked incredulously. Guardian stumbled at that question. "Weapons? What do you…." he was cut short as the horns of the small genomorph on his shoulder started to glow. "What have I…...no. My head," Guardian continued as he put his hand on his head, which started to hurt immensely.

Matt took out his billy clubs from their holster as he detected a change in Guardians heart rate, making Aqualad and Kid Flash more alert. "Take them down hard, no mercy," Guardian demanded pointing to the team.

Robin stopped hacking the computed and leaped in front of his teammates, throwing down a smoke bomb. This distraction was all Matt needed to get behind Guardian. The blind hero grabbed the small genomorph by the head and slammed it into a wall, knocking it out. "Ok, that's done. Let's just..." Matt couldn't finish his sentence since Guardian kicked him in the chest, knocking the red clad hero on the floor. "Hard way it is then," Matt said.

During these few seconds, the larger Genomorphs leaped into the smoke cloud, making them unaware of their surroundings. Robin grappled upwards onto a steel beam above. Kid Flash dodged the strikes of one of the Genomorphs, he ran across the wall behind him and jumped into two genomorphs in front of him. He then leapt at superspeed onto a pillar and used the momentum to jump kick another Genomorph in the face.

Aqualad, seeing that Daredevil was fighting Guardian made his way to him, throwing a Genomorph that latched into his back into another one next to him. Guardian, knowing that Daredevil was holding back grabbed the vigilante by the throat and threw him into Aqualad, making both teens role on the floor.

Matt was the first to get up, he sidestepped the incoming head of security, making Guardian lose concentration and power in the right hook he threw at Aqualad. The Atlantean blocked the punch and threw a few of his own, effortlessly dodged and parried by Guardian who punched him across the face and slammed him against the wall, bending the metal behind him, Guardians hands were across Aqualad's throat.

Matt threw one of his billy clubs into Guardians head and delivered a push kick into the side of the dazed 'hero'. Knowing from experience not to give up the momentum he kicked Guardian in the shins, and knees, Matt noticing that all of the older fighters attacks were punches and throws, indicating he wasn't as well versed in kicking attacks or defence.

Matt then changed the pace of the attack and punched Guardian in the unarmored chin, knocking him out. Aqualad and Kid Flash subsequently avoided the remaining Genomorphs and followed Daredevil who was making his way to where Robin was.

Robin was in the process of hacking another door, Kid Flash ran across the corridor when he spotted him. Aqualad and Daredevil were concerned about the seven Genomorphs still chasing them.

"Way to be a team player, Rob!" Kid Flash said, angry at his younger peer. "Won't you guys right behind me?" Robin asked, genuinely not aware his teammates didn't follow him the moment he left the room. The door he was hacking opened and the the two entered in what looked like another elevator shaft.

Aqualad and Daredevil, still behind the two and being chased by Genomorphs jumped and rolled into the the elevator moments before the doors closed. The Genomorphs, banged and scratched at the the door but those sounds faded as the elevator went further down.

* * *

Matt was scanning the floors below them, alarmed at the sheer number of Genomorphs in the facility. When Aqualad and Kid Flash saw that the floor counter was increasing, meaning they were going down they questioned Robin. "Dude, escaping is up!" Kid Flash said, pointing upward.

"Excuse me, project Kr. It's down, sub-level 52," Robin replied somewhat obnoxiously. Aqualad put his hand behind his head, "This is out of control. Perhaps. Perhaps, we should contact the League," he said to his teammates, sounding somewhat dejected at the situation he was finding himself in.

His teammates looked down, considering what he said but they couldn't think for long since they reached sub-level 52. The door opened and they got into a combat stance, except Daredevil.

This floor was different from the others. The ones above whilst teaming with genetic monstrosities still had the design of a bunker. Steel doors, floors and walls. But this floor seemed to have all it's surfaces infested with some organic growth, not dissimilar to the insides of one's intestines.

Matt frowned as he scanned his environment. The walls made a noise like that of a rapidly growing plant, the smell, to him at least made a trash can in an alley at New York smell like roses in comparison and there were no radio waves, so his radar sense was useless.

But what he could detect were a handful of small, psychic genomorphs and something else. "A few small genomorphs up ahead. And…..." Daredevil said.

"And what?" Kid Flash asked. "A loud heartbeat. Really loud. But slow, like he's in a coma. Plus, in the hallway to the right there's the heartbeat of that weird thing Aqualad and I um...saw in the elevator in the building above ground," Matt said, still trying to concentrate on that sound of the comatose person.

Matt hid behind some computer banks, wary of the skinny, horned, demon looking Genomorph in the hallway on their right. He put his fingers on his lips, telling his teammates to be quiet. The blue, skinny, demon like figure was now in the sight of the remaining teenagers.

"He's not hostile, if we make our way to the other hallway I think he won't attack us," Matt said. "What makes you so sure?" Robin asked. "His heart rate lowered the moment I mentioned the guy in the coma and started walking in his direction. He wants us to go there."

"Ok, I'll bite. Why?" Kid Flash asks. Matt shrugs as he hurried to the left hallway, trying to put as much distance between him and the demon like genomorph. "Thank God I was right, fighting telekinetics is a pain," Daredevil said. "He was moving rocks out of the way without touching them before we reached this floor," Matt told his teammates before they asked him how he knew that.

Matt heard Guardian and the Genomorphs come out if the elevator, the small, psychic one he knocked out was on Guardians shoulder again. They started running towards the left corridor. "Mr. Head of security and those things are on our tail again," Matt informed the team as they reached the open vault door to Project Kr.

A scientist was walking out of the door but stopped in her tracks, seeing a yellow blur come towards her. Kid Flash, not wanting to crash into the woman at superspeed, fell down on purpose and slid across the floor, knocking her over instead. The doors to the vault started closing and his teammates were still several dozen feet away. Kid Flash took a nearby container, picked it up with all the effort he could muster and jammed the dropped it on the floor, preventing the doors from closing.

"Hurry," he shouted as his teammates ran into the small gap they had to enter Project Kr, the whirring of the jammed door, was hurting Matt's ears. Aqualad was the last to get in and saw Guardian and Genomorphs just around the corner. He kicks the container a few feet in front of him, letting the door close.

Robin hacked into the door's control system and locked it down. "We're safe," he said. "We're trapped," Aqualad replied cynically. "Yeah, guys. You're gonna wanna see this," Kid Flash said, pressing a button booting up the lights to the pod in front of them.

Matt stood next to his teammates who couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Woah." Robin said as Daredevil subtly pulled on his cape, indicating he needed a visual reference. "Superman," he whispered as he stared at the young Kryptonian, transfixed on what was in front of him.

The clone was young, maybe sixteen years old and he was wearing a white, skin tight jumpsuit with a red Superman logo on his chest. The Letters 'Kr' were plastered on the glass on his pod. Matt of course couldn't see that but the word Superman was enough for him to guess who or what the strong heartbeat belonged to.

Kid Flash walked towards the clone and noticed that three psychic Genomorphs were trapped in smaller containers above the white clad teen. "Big 'K' little 'r' The atomic symbol for Krypton. A clone?" he asked, turning his head to Robin. "Robin. Hack," Aqualad said in a commanding voice.

"Right, right," Robin said, still processing what he was seeing. He plugged into the computer and bypassed the firewall. "Weapon designation, Superboy. A clone grown in sixteen weeks? From DNA acquired from Superman."

"Stolen from Superman," Matt said, trying to get a read on Superboy's metabolism. "No way the big guy know about this," Wally said. "That solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7," Robin said, looking at the holographic display on his wrist.

"And these...creatures?" Aqualad asked pointing to an image on the computer of the three psychic Genomorphs above Superboy. "Genomorph, Gnomes. Telepathic, like Daredevil, said. Force feeding him an education," Robin said.

"And we can guess what else," Kid Flash said. "They're making a slave out of. Well Superman's son," he continued, his tone completely solemn.

Aqualad now feels the need to call for others, "Now, we contact the League." He presses his logo on his belt to activate his communicator but he couldn't contact anyone. "No signal," Robin said.

"We're in too deep, literally," Kid Flash said. Matt was ignoring all of this, trying to concentrate on what was being said outside of the locked door of the lab.

* * *

He could hear some of the Genomorphs clicking their vocal chords. The scientist Kid Flash knocked over was trying to get the door to open. Matt hears someone runs towards Guardian.

"They're still in there? With the weapon!" Dr. Desmond asks Guardian, not able to comprehend the inefficiency of his subordinates. The blue, skinny, demon like Genomorph was right behind him.

Guardian gestured to the door, "We can't get it unlocked." Dr. Desmond stares at the skinny Genomorph behind him. "Use your telekinesis," he orders irritatedly.

"I have tried. To no avail," he replied, his voice reverberating across the room.

Dr. Desmond waves his arms in the air. "Useless." He walks towards Guardian, "This is a debacle. Get some G-Trolls here to muscle the door open. Now!" he orders Guardian, his tone even more irritable than before.

Guardian, puts his hands on his hips and looks at the pony tailed scientist with disdain. "Already on their way," he said in a matter of fact tone. Dr. Desmond looks at the door and lowers his voice so the scientist working on opening it wouldn't hear. "You do realise, one we open that door. We can never let them leave."

"Doc," Guardian said, trying to construct his next words carefully. "These aren't your typical, meddling kids. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the Justice League."

Dr. Desmond glares at Guardian, "Better than getting on the wrong side of the Cadmus board of directors. Believe me." He looks at the Genomorph perched atop Guardians shoulder. "Alert the G-Gnomes inside Kr."

The G-Gnome's horns glow as he communicates with his brethren inside Superboy's pod.

* * *

"Shit, guys. They're sending him a message through those things," Matt says, pointing at the G-Gnomes in the pod without looking at them. "Any ideas?"

Wally was about to suggest that they should let him free when Superboy started to clench his fist. Daredevil notices this and moves to the shadows. "He's hostile, his heartbeat spiked. Hide, there's no way we can beat a Kryptonian in a fist fight." Superboys eyes open upon hearing Matt's voice and he punches the glass of his pod, shattering it completely. Aqualad was the first person he saw and he flew straight into him, the two rolled across the ground, with Superboy being on top.

The clone starts punching Aqualad in the face and Kid Flash and Robin try to restrain him by grabbing his arms. Robin covers the clones eyes and he seems disoriented for a while, but he smacks Kid Flash in the chest, launching him into the air and into a glass container, shattering it completely and knocking the speedster out.

Robin puts a gas grenade in Superboy's mouth whilst Matt starts breaking the small pods the G-Gnomes were in, controlling the clone. The Kryptonian grasps at his throat, unable to breath and Aqualad wastes no time and kicks him in the face, making him crash into a control panel, damaging it. Robin takes a taser from his belt and shoots it at Superboy's chest. The electric cables barely tickled the clone as he grabbed them and pulled Robin towards him at blinding speed. He grabs the boy wonder and slams him into the ground, he then puts his foot on his chest, crushing the smaller teenager with his strength.

Matt managed to knock out two of the G-Gnomes and was still breaking down the final pod. The last remaining G-Gnome alerts Superboy of this and he steps off of Robin before he broke any of his ribs. The clone was about to launch himself into Daredevil but received a water constructed hammer to the face, "Enough!" Aqualad shouted as he hit the clone as hard as he could making him hit his support bed for his pod, so hard that it crumpled under the impact and made the small container that held the G-Gnome fall down, breaking it.

Matt threw his billy club into the G-Gnome's now exposed face, knocking it out and it bounced on the back of Superboy's head right back to his hand. The clone, barely feeling the impact turned to face Matt but no longer had the instinct to attack him by any means necessary.

Aqualad held Robin in his arms as he fell unconscious and noticed that Superboy wasn't attacking Daredevil on site. "We are trying to help you," the Atlantean said whilst standing up.

Superboy looked at the remaining teens with the same, angry expression, but he seemed to actually listen to what Aqualad had to say. Before the Atlantean could continue however, Superboy simply made his way to the door, making Aqualad and Daredevil sigh with relief. Before Superboy could tear the door down, Daredevil stopped him.

"Wait!" he said. "Those things, those G-Gnomes were controlling you. There are two more of them outside that door. Unless you want to become a mindless killing machine again, you might want to talk to us," Matt said, hoping this wouldn't be his final sentence.

Superboy eyes opened wider at the sound of his words and turned around, his feet denting the metal below it. Aqualad was getting ready to fight again and so was Matt, but much to the blind heroes surprise the clones heart rate and breathing slowed down significantly.

"Alright," Superboy said. "I'm listening."

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Wow, watching the episode and incorporating the dialogue and actions of the characters into the story is way tougher than making up your own stuff as you go.**

 **I'll basically have chapters were Matt interacts with the team and is part of the episodes and chapters were he's continuing his own personal story in New York that don't usually involve the team.**

 **It was so much fun writing this chapter and watching the first episode again.**

 **I don't think Daredevil has any ice villains and making him fight someone like Electro at this stage in his career seemed a bit too much. So I made him fight stilt-man instead.**

 **Also, Connor was speed blitzing most of the team and just destroyed Aqualad when they fought one on one. So Matt couldn't change the outcome of that fight directly and so I made him take out the G-Gnomes.**

 **Connor can talk without their influence in the next episode, so I'm pretty sure it was the G-Gnomes that made him so violent towards the team. Hopefully, I'll come up with an idea that doesn't just straight up copy the events of episode 2.**

 **Any reviews would be much appreciated.**

 **Thanks.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Superboy** **:**

 **Cadmus, Washington DC, July 4th, 2010:**

"Awake," a voice commanded, reverberating through his mind. He shuffles, unwilling to get up. If he can sleep through five alarm clocks every school day he can sleep through this. "AWAKE," the voice repeated but louder. Kid Flash awoke, gasping for air as he clutched his chest. He felt like he was hit by a wrecking ball. He rubs his eyes trying to workout if the images in his head about a secret underground base in Washington DC, fighting weird things called genomorphs and finding a clone of Superboy were all real. Much to his dismay his confusion was clarified the moment he looked upwards to see the clone in his white solar suit, the iconic 'S' of Superman emblazoned on his chest looking right down at him.

He doubles back, and his heart rate rises. "What the hell man. We try and break you out and you attack us. What's that for gratitude?"

"Calm down. I am sure our friend here had no control over his actions," a calm voice said, Kid Flash turned around to see that it belonged to Aqualad. Superboy looks towards Kid Flash and shades of shame were displayed across his face. "What if I wasn't?" he asked to no one in particular.

Kid Flash looks around to see both Robin and Daredevil to his left. "Wait. He talks?" the speedster asked his teammates. Superboy clenches his fists, "Yes. HE. Can!" the clone responds in anger, emphasising the 'HE'. An awkward silence filled the room. "Well it's not like I called him an 'IT'," Kid Flash said feeling a bit odd.

Daredevil clapped his hands, the sound bringing everyone's attention to him. "Focus guys. We have twenty human sized Genomorphs, two G-Gnomes psychically controlling them, Guardian, that devil looking one and some asshole scientist called Desmond outside that door. I can hear the big ones coming down the elevator. We have five minutes at most before they're here," Matt said pointing his thumb to the giant metal door separating the teens from the threats outside.

Matt turns to Superboy. "Anything you can tell us about these things?" The Kryptonian looks at the unconscious G-Gnomes next to the remains of his pod, pitying the small creatures for being in the sorry state they're in and yet feeling contempt for them simultaneously.

Noticing this Aqualad decided to speak. "The genomorphs taught you. Telepathically." Superboy looks at the atlantean. "They taught me much. I can read, write. I know the names of places and things."

"But have you seen them? I mean, have they actually let you out and see the sky. Or the sun?" Robin asks, not understanding how they let Superboy just stay idle in stasis at Cadmus.

"Images have been implanted. In my mind. But no. I have not seen them," Superboy states coldly, as he realised he never even considered actually going to the surface and experiencing the world first-hand.

Matt, despite his impatience up on hearing the elevator get closer and closer to their level decided to ask the clone a personal question. "Do you know who are? What you are?"

Superboy's posture immediately straightens to such an extent that a soldier marching past him would have felt like a slob standing next to him. "I am the Superboy, a genomorph," he states emotionlessly, almost as if he memorized the speech hundreds of times over. "The clone of the Superman. I was built to replace him if he perishes. To destroy him if he turns from the light." He said the last sentence with a deeper tone, understanding the responsibility on his shoulders in such an event.

The four heroes look at each other with puzzled looks. Aqualad decided to look past that point. "To be like Superman. It is a worthy aspiration. But like Superman you deserve a life of your own. Beyond that solar suit. Beyond that pod. Beyond Cadmus."

Superboy looks at Aqualad with anger, "I live because of Cadmus. It is my home!" he shouts out, beating his chest. The sound reminding Matt of a sledgehammer banging against a steel pillar.

"Your home is a test tube. We can show you the sun. We can introduce you to Superman" Robin said putting his hand out. Matt tapped his shoulder, "Pretty sure it's night time now. Maybe he can see the moon. What am I talking about? That doesn't matter unless we get past the squadron of hostiles past that door."

"We're going to need Robin to hack open the door. Then Superboy has to….." Matt was cut short as he felt a powerful gust of wind past him. Superboy sprinted towards the door at full speed.

A primal grunt exits Superboy's mouth as he tears down the thick steel door like paper. "Or we break the door and improvise," Kid Flash said, running at the devil looking genomorph at superspeed, knocking him to the floor.

A handful of human sized genomorphs brandish their claws at him and the speedster tries to evade their attacks in the small space he has. Dr. Desmond and Guardian walk towards Superboy from his sides. "I order you to stop!" Desmond says, his voice straining from the effort.

Superboy casually pushes him and Guardian with his hands and they slam into the adjacent walls with considerable force. "Don't. Give me orders. Not anymore," he states with the utmost conviction, making Dr. Desmond shut up.

Daredevil, Aqualad and Robin take care of the remaining Genomorphs and run across the corridor with Kid Flash and Superboy.

"You can't get out of here. I'll have you all in pods before morning!" Desmond exclaimed loudly. Robin turns to face him, "That guy is not whelmed. Not whelmed at all," he says throwing a explosives at the walls, blocking the path behind them with rocks.

Kid Flash addresses his younger friend, "What is with you and this whelmed thing?" He asked, struggling not to run at superspeed ahead of his teammates. Doctor Desmond taps his G-Gnome on the head, "Activate every genomorph in Cadmus," he commanded. The small creature compiled, it's horns glowing, psychically waking up his kin. The egg like spheres that adorned the walls of the lower levels of Cadmus started glowing, and embryos started forming rapidly.

"We are still 42 levels below the surface," Aqualad says running alongside Superboy. Matt tilts his head, "Four large genomorphs are hiding behind the pillars next to the elevator. They're waiting for us."

As if on cue four large creatures emerge from behind the pillars. They had large tusks plastered next to their mouths and had catfish like faces. They walked around like gorillas and were the size of elephants. The team stop in their tracks seeing the behemoths in their way.

Matt turns around as he hears the genomorphs forming in the eggs attached to the walls starting to breath. "Behind us," he said briefly as human sized Genomorphs broke through their shells and started crawling towards the teenagers.

One of the larger genomorphs, a G-troll raises it's fists and slams them into the ground, the team jumping backwards to avoid the attack. Superboy crouches down and leaps up, slamming a fist into the G-Trolls face, making the large creature fall on its back, breaking the ground below it. Another G-Troll punches Superboy to the ground and pins him their, not giving him any room to move and muscle his way out.

The other three teenagers evade the onslaught of the G-trolls since they had all their attention on Superboy. Matt throws a small sphere onto the large creature pinning Superboy down, a gas of green smoke enveloped it's face making it cough violently.

It's grip on the Kryptonian eased up only by an inch. But that was all he needed. He pushed himself off of the ground and out of the hands of the G-Troll. He then grabbed it by the arm and threw it into the wall. Making the ceiling above them crumble.

He then repeatedly punched another G-Troll so hard that each punch reverberated across the entire floor they were on, making the ceiling break down even further, screaming in anger with every blow he dealt. Aqualad shouts out, "We are trying to escape the facility Superboy. Not bury ourselves!" he said cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice.

"You want an escape?" He asked, his rage barely contained. He lifts one of the G-Trolls over his head and throws it at the elevator door. The large creature breaks through the metal and falls down the remainder of the elevator shaft.

Robin removes his grappling hook, he takes Kid Flash by the hand and grapples upwards. Daredevil does the same, but alone. Superboy puts his arm around Aqualad. He raises his free arm upward, the same way Superman does when he flies. The clone leaps upward, soaring through the air with Aqualad, above were the other teens managed to get via their grappling tools. But then he stops abruptly.

"I'm. I'm falling," Superboy said in disbelief, plummeting downwards. Daredevil notices this and throws one of his Billy clubs into the side of the shaft just below where the two were falling. Aqualad sees this and in a split second grabbed onto the Billy club, slamming into the wall along with Superboy.

Superboy looks down in shock, "Superman can fly. But why can't I?" He asks in a small tone, like a child would a parent. Kid Flash shrugs, "I have no idea. But hey. You can still leap tall buildings in a single bound. Still cool."

Kid Flash gave Superboy a hand, the clone took it and stood next to the speedster. Aqualad did the same. All teens were now on the same level. But they still needed a way out of the elevator shaft.

A mechanical whirring was heard above them, they look up and see the elevator descending towards them. "That's our ticket out of here," Robin said, putting his grappling hook back in his belt.

After Daredevil confirmed that no one was in the lift, Superboy jumped onto the bottom of the elevator and removed it's bottom. This let him and the other teens get inside of it and they waited till it reached the next floor.

When the lift reached the 15th floor, Aqualad and Superboy ran through the doors, making them fly forward. Five human sized Genomorphs see this and run towards them. The teens run into an adjacent corridor to escape them.

Superboy feels a tingly sensation in his head, "Turn left brother," an echo like voice told him. The clone somehow recognized the voice and followed suit, "Turn left. Left," he said running ahead of the rest of the team. They follow the clone as he took a hard left. Matt, having briefly analysed the layout of the floor with his powers realised were the clone was going.

"Right. We go right!" Matt said out loud, confusing Superboy as he heard the echo like voice tell him to do the same seconds after. The Five of them take a right but reach a dead end.

Kid Flash puts his hands on his knees and grabs Matt by the shoulder. "Great directions. Are you both trying to get us caught? We're stuck here!" he said waving his hands at the wall in front of them. Daredevil simply puts his hand on Kid Flashes head and turns it upwards. After a few moments the speedsters eyes spot what he was meant to see. A vent.

"Oh. Um, I knew that," Kid Flash said sheepishly as Robin entered the vent first, removing the vent cover.

The genomorphs chasing them reach the vent and see nothing but the fallen vent cover.

The teenager crawl through the vent, with Robin and Daredevil being slightly annoyed by the amount of noise their teammates were making. "At this rate we'll never get out," Kid Flash whined, hating the fact that his superspeed was of little use inside the walls of the facility.

Matt shushes him. "Superboy. Hear that? Three morphs headed our way." The clone turns his head, hearing the sound of something clanking on metal but he couldn't tell what it was. The others shrugged, since they didn't have Super hearing.

* * *

Dr. Desmond, Guardian and the skinny, blue, devil like genomorph called Dubbilex were running across the corridor. Desmond had a tablet in his hand, with a map of the vents on it. " Someone - Robin, I wager - hacked the security cameras. But he neglected our motion sensors," he said revelling in the ignorance of the boy wonder.

The three of them saw that the dots on the map were leading to the toilet. They enter the lavatory and wait under the vent. "We have them now," Desmond said, waiting for the opportunity to gloat.

The vents start to open but instead of being greeted by the teens a bunch of genomorphs fall on top of him. He grunts and slowly pushes them off of him like one might push away dirt. "He hacked our motion sensors."

* * *

"I hacked the motion sensors," Robin said with a large smile plastered on his face as he closed his holographic computer. "Sweet," Kid Flash said.

The Five were next to a door that lead to a staircase to the top floor of Cadmus. "Still a lot of genomorphs between us and the exit," Daredevil said as he heard over two dozen human sized Genomorphs descending down the stairs.

Kid Flash just smiles and puts his red goggles on. "Yeah but I finally have room to move!" he said with excitement. He opened the door and ran up multiple flights of stairs in less than a second, his friends only seeing a yellow streak. The speedster sees many genomorphs a few flights above him. He simply smirks and picks up the pace, going even faster, knocking down all the genomorphs like bowling pins. He reached the top floor that the stairs went up to and runs through the door to the corridor. He sees hears alarms go off and sees that the path in front of him was blocked off by closing metal blast doors. "Oh crap," he says out loud as he smashed into the now closed blast doors at full speed.

He falls to the floor disoriented. "This day can't get any worse."

Guardian, Dubblex and Desmond were making their way up via the only other undamaged elevator. Dubblex scratched his horns, the devil like being was especially sensitive their. Guardian turned to Desmond, "We'll cut them off at sub-level one." The pony tailed scientist looked at the blue and gold hero and sighed. "We had better. Else the board of directors will literally have our heads." He sighs and places his finger on his brow. "My head."

Desmond then stops the elevator and gets off. "I need to retrieve an item from Project: Blockbuster. You carry on without me," he said as he made his way to the lab. The elevator doors close and Guardian looks at the scientist with contempt. 'Coward,' he thinks to himself, not aware that Dubblex heard him say that telepathically.

The rest of the team reaches Kid Flash, who was rubbing his head. "We are cut off from the street," Aqualad says as Robin helped Kid Flash up. "Thanks," the speedster said sarcastically, "My head hadn't noticed."

Superboy walks towards the thick metal door and tries to open it. He grunts as he exerted himself, barely moving it. Aqualad elects to help the clone but even the combined strength of the two wasn't enough to move the blast door. Robin tries to hack it but Matt taps him on the shoulder. "G-trolls. Behind us," he says. They hear the footsteps of the massive creatures.

Robin sees a wooden service door that leads to another corridor. He was about to go towards it but Matt stopped him, grabbing him by the arm. "Forty genomorphs behind that door. And more on their way. We're surrounded.

The door opens violently as G-trolls smash the walls supporting it. G-Gnomes were atop them, controlling the large brutes. Guardian enters the scene and the teens take a look of their surroundings. At least seventy genomorphs were around them and Matt realised all routes to the floor above were sealed.

The horns of all the G-Gnomes start to glow, lighting the corridor in a red hue. The minds of all the teens except Daredevil's went blank and they fell to the floor. Matt head hurt but was thankful he had lead put into his helmet, protecting him somewhat from telepathic attacks but he wondered how the hell he was going to beat an army of Genomorphs alone.

The blind hero took out his Billy clubs as he heard a familiar heartbeat. Dubblex walked in front of the other Genomorphs and Matt was ready to fight. But Dubblex raised his hands in a peaceful gesture, confusing Matt.

The devil like genomorph turned to Superboy and his large horns started to glow. "Perhaps for the sake of all of our kind. Our brother, Superboy, deserves to make up his own mind." The clone heard the echo like voice in his head and responded mentally, "It was you," he said turning to Dubblex.

The devil like creature nodded, "Yes brother. It was I who started the fire that alerted these young heroes. It was I who awoke Kid Flash after you knocked him out and guided you." Superboy's eyes widened at this realisation. "But. Why? Why help me?" He asked mentally.

"Because you are our hope. The genomorph hero. You shall blaze a trail for all of our brothers. Showing us the way to freedom," Dubblex responded telepathically. The G-Gnome on guardians shoulder stopped controlling him and leapt off of his shoulder. The older hero grabbed his head, resisting the urge to vomit. "It's like. A fog has lifted," he said, not able to comprehend the clarity he felt for the first time in years.

The telepathic control over Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash was cancelled too, the three get up feeling groggy.

Matt stood their scratching his head, not sure what was going on. "Yesterday I fought a guy called Stilt-man. That was the least crazy thing I've seen in the last 24 hours," he said thinking that this stuff was way to wacky for him.

Dubblex ignored that comment and continued to telepathically communicate with Superboy. "What do you choose. Brother?" The boy of steel stands up. "I. Choose. Freedom," he says out loud, pride welling in his chest.

Dubblex nods in approval. Guardian helps the light headed teenagers off the floor with Daredevil's help. "Guardian?" Aqualad asks. The older hero nods, "Go. Contact the league. I'll deal with Desmond."

"Will you now?" The genomorphs move aside to reveal Dr. Desmond, holding a test tube of glowing blue liquid. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to…" his sentence was cut off by a loud 'thunk' as a Billy club hit the doctor on the head making him fall over still clutching the test tube..

Daredevil picked up his weapon and slowly stepped on Desmonds hand, shattering it and the test tube. An audible crack entering everyone's ears. "Please tell me you guys weren't just gonna let him finish his evil monologue and drink that weird stuff?" He asks his teammates as he holstered his Billy club.

The four, slightly shocked by Daredevil crippling Desmond just shuffled awkwardly. "That's kind of what happens," Robin said, barely phased by Matt's action.

Matt puts his hands up in exasperation and starts walking towards the exit door which was now opening. "Wait. What you did to Desmond was, quite frankly unnecessary. You had incapacitated him, there was no need to cripple him," Aqualad said, turning Matt around.

"Yeah. That was harsh," Kid Flash added. Superboy didn't respond, feeling no sympathy for the man that had kept him the other Genomorphs captive.

Matt starred at Aqualad. "We'll contact the league," the blind teen said, choosing not to take the discussion further. The atlantean looks at the bones protruding from Desmond's hands and exhales loudly, unable to understand his comrades brutal action.

* * *

The Five exit the building and Superboy closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cold, night air on his face. He hears the sounds of leaves rustling in trees, the gravel beneath him shuffling under his weight and he takes in the smell of the air.

He was free.

Kid Flash pointed upward. "See, that's the moon," he said as the clone stared at the large celestial object. Superboy saw something with his enhanced vision coming closer from were the moon was. He saw a blue and red clad figure fly towards him.

Up on closer inspection the figure had an 'S' on their chest. The same symbol on Superboy's solar suit. His eyes widen in excitement. It was Superman.

"Oh. And Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?" Kid Flash asked rhetorically. Behind Superman was Wonder woman and the two Green Lanterns of the league. Hawk-Man and Hawk-woman followed. Zatara lowered himself on a magic disk. Captain Marvel flew to the ground with Captain Atom. One of the green lanterns was transporting the non flying members of the league in a green, construction of his ring. He lowers them and deleted the construction, letting them onto the ground.

The whole league was present at Cadmus and Superman, Batman and Wonder woman walked towards the teens. They all noticed the symbol on Superboy's chest. The clone looks into the eyes of Superman, hoping to see a look of happiness. The look a father would give a son. But instead he was greeted with a look of horror as Superman realised what Superboy was. Making the clone avert his gaze, anger flowing through his body.

Batman walks forward, "Is that what I think it is?". Kid Flash whispers somewhat loudly, "Not a big fan of being called an 'IT'," he said. Superboy, fed up with the league staring at him spoke up, "I'm Superman's clone!" he said out loud, pointing to his chest with pride.

No one spoke, the adults weren't sure how to respond to that. Batman glared at the young heroes. His white eyes squinted, "Tell me everything from the beginning."

* * *

After a lengthy explanation the five teens stood together away from the league. Some flew away with Desmond, taking him to prison. Others were exploring Cadmus, tabulating everything they saw. Superman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Batman stood many feet away from the team, discussing what to do.

Martian Manhunter sensed Superboy's discomfort and gently placed his hand on Superman's. The Man of steel looked at his clone. Superboy looked away immediately.

The blue boy scout sighed, his shoulders slumping downward, not sure what to do. He straightens himself up and walks towards Superboy.

The clone crosses his arms and turns his whole torso away from Superman. The older Kryptonian places his hand on Superboy's arm, a gesture that surprised the clone. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted," Superman said, his tone of voice had a commanding tone to it but somehow it made Superboy feel welcomed.

"It isn't everyday something like this happens. Batman and I will help sort something out. I need to fly with the other leaguers to make sure that Desmond is treated properly at prison. But I'll see you soon. Son," Superman said, giving Superboy a friendly smile. The clone looked at his father with reverence as he flew off to catch up with the other leaguers.

Batman waited till Superman left, to address the teens. Flash and Aquaman stood behind him, wanting to talk to their sidekicks too. "Cadmus will be investigated. But end results aside, we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lives. You. Will. Not. Do this again," Batman said, his tone of voice somehow grimmer than usual.

"I am sorry. But we will," Aqualad said as Daredevil gestured for Robin and Kid Flash to look more confident. "Aqualad. Stand down," Aquaman commanded.

The dark skinned atlantean put his hand to his chest and bowed down. "Apologies my King. But I will not," he said making Aquaman raise his brow, curious as to what his sidekick had to say.

"We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own we forged something powerful. Important " Aqualad said, forming a fist in the air.

Flash spoke, "If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you…" Kid Flash interrupted, "Five of us. And it's not."

Robin stepped forward, "Batman. We're ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?" Daredevil decided to add to that point, "Something like this was inevitable the moment you put us all together. We'll continue the fight with or without you."

Superboy crosses his arms. "Why are we letting them tell us what to do. It's simple. Either get on board or get out of our way." The rest of the team look at their mentors, Superboy's words summarized what they were all thinking.

The league looked at the five. They knew what to do.

* * *

 **Mount Justice, July 8th, 2010:**

The league were setting up equipment inside of the large open cave within the mountain. The former headquarters of the league would serve to be the perfect hub for the young heroes. Superman spent some time in Metropolis with Superboy. It would take a while to make a legal identity for him and Superboy was too old biologically to be Clark Kent's son. So until they figured that out Superboy was to stay at mount justice.

The teens were wearing normal clothes. Kid Flash was wearing brown trousers, a white under shirt and a blue full sleeved shirt over that. Robin was wearing black trousers, a red t-shirt and a black jacket over that. He wore sunglasses to conceal his identity. Superboy wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a red Superman symbol on it. Aqualad had baggy black pants and a blue coat with a large collar to hide his gills. Matt wore jeans with a red full sleeved shirt. He wore his usual red tinted glasses to hide his glazed over eyes and decided not to bring his cane. Secret identities and all.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary if the justice league. We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight. You'll do it on league terms," Batman instructed the young heroes. Walking past them like a drill sergeant.

"Red tornado volunteered to live here and be your supervisor. Black canary will be in charge of training. And I will deploy you on missions," Batman said.

Robin looked at his mentor, "Real missions?" Batman nodded, "Yes. But covert."

"The league will handle the more obvious stuff. We have these big targets on our chests for a good reason," Flash said pointing to the lighting bolt on his chest. "But Cadmus proves that the Villains are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly," Aquaman says.

"The six of you will be that team," Batman said. Robin chuckled, "Cool. Wait six?" The Zeta platform activated revealing two figures. Martian Manhunter and a young girl. She had red hair, and green skin with dark green freckles. She had a blue cape, blue gloves, skirt and boots. She had a white, skin tight shirt with a red X on it, the symbol of the Manhunters from mars.

"This is the Martian Manhunters niece. Miss Martian," Batman said, introducing the young girl. Ms. Martian put her hand on her arm and awkwardly greeted the boys, "Um...high everyone," she said with an endearing smile.

Kid Flash whispers to Robin, "I'm liking this gig more and more." He runs towards Ms. Martian and shakes her hand, "Hi, I'm Kid Flash," he said far too eagerly. "Oh and that's Robin, Daredevil, and Aqualad. It's ok if you forget their names."

The three of them walk towards Ms. Martian, wishing to meet their new friend. Superboy stayed back. Not being very excited. Matt understands his feelings and drags the clone towards the group, "The grim, broody thing is depressing. Trust me, just introduce yourself."

Ms. Martian looked at Superboy and blushed, changing the colour of her shirt from white to black. "I like your t-shirt," she said softly. Kid Flash and Robin nudge Superboy, the whole scenario makes him smile.

Aqualad looks at this and remembers what they had said the day they were meant to join the league, "Today is the day."

* * *

 **Well that's a wrap. Episode two is done. Honestly there wasn't Matt could do this episode except for knocking out Desmond before he drank the Blockbuster serum. Seriously, why didn't anyone stop him the moment he revealed himself.**

 **I have exams for the next month so no more chapters till November basically.**

 **The next chapter will have Matt in New York again. There's a two week gap between episodes two and three. So I figure I can have Matt do his own thing in that time.**

 **I never understood why Superman treated Connor so badly in the show. Sure, he's a clone and he's made by the bad guys but he's still just a kid who wants a father. And Superman is meant to be one of the kindest and most noble people on the planet. Their relationship won't be smooth in my story but I'm going to make sure the two spend time together.**

 **Now, it's comment response time. (I really should have done this with previous chapters.)**

 **Pandakailove** **: wow great chapter and great story over all! I loved how you've characterised Matt, he's so in character and I can see him doing everything you've described. I've noticed you haven't updated in a while, have you abandoned this story? please don't! It's awesome!**

 **Me** **: Thanks. I've been reading daredevil for a couple years and one of the great things about the character is that he changes a lot over the years. He can be a brooding vigilante for some issues, and then be a swashbuckling ninja in others. I want to incorporate both those aspects in to my version of Matt.**

 **I'm going to finish this story. At least till season 1. We'll see if it goes beyond that.**

 **Justaguest** **: No one appreciates the bad villains anymore! Thank you for this story. I happy that you are finding ways to contrast robin and daredevil. My was they were either going to be too similar, or go to different extremes. You are doing well that balance.**

I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

 **Me:** **Thanks for the response. I agree, the bad villains have a certain charm. Look at half of Batman's rogues gallery. They are so goofy yet, so fun. I never really found Robin and Daredevil to be that similar. If Dick was nightwing then it'd be a bit harder, trying to contrast the two.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Until next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Yakuza:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, 8th July, 2010** :

"I can't repeat myself again. There isn't any time. You need to make sure you get it right the first try," Matt said with urgency as he was perched on the rooftop, his communicator buzzing in his ear. "I told you once and I won't say it again. I don't want pineapples on my pizza!"

"But that's the cheapest one," Mark replied back, having a small panic attack when he recalled his bank balance. Matt sighed, "Yeah but they make the pizza sour. How the hell do you make a pizza sour?" He asked his brother, aghast at the idea of a sour pizza.

Mark scratched his head. "I can tell Carlos to make one half with the pineapples and the other pepperoni. You happy with that?" Matt shrugged his shoulders as he spoke into his communicator. "I guess."

"Weren't you meant to stalk the Japanese mafia or something?" He asked Matt. "Weren't you meant to be on a diet?" Matt responded. Mark sighed. "Cheat day man. And don't change the topic. You sure you got the date right?"

"Yeah, I did. And there are Yakuza enforcers in the warehouse. The bosses haven't arrived yet though," Matt said scanning the area with his senses for what seemed to be the hundredth time. A few hours after meeting the team in the cave Daredevil got some information from Britt Sr. Apparently one of his undercover reporters heard wind of a meeting taking place at the docks with every major Yakuza crime boss being present.

Matt informed Detective Blake about the situation and he has cops on stand by a few blocks away. The blind hero was perched on a building opposite the docs for the past two hours. He stayed in one position all that time, not wanting to give away his location. A red blur, running across a building would probably do that.

He heard the head of security say that the bosses would be there in half an hour. So he had his brother order pizza. He had time to kill.

"Couldn't you ask one of your super friends to help?" Mark asks. Matt chuckles, "Yeah, the only other guy with super hearing on the team is Superboy and he's about as stealthy as a drunk bull in a China shop. It's recon. And it's my city. I don't need help."

Matt hears a the sound of heavy tires making their way to the warehouse. A buzz enters his ears, the Yakuza enforcers received some instructions in Japanese, "The bosses are arriving."

"Got to go. See you soon," Matt said cutting the call. After a few moments half a dozen SUV's turned up to the docs. A few men exited the vehicles, Matt could smell the gunpowder on them all the way up the building. They walked around the perimeter and exchanged words with the guards already stationed there. After they were satisfied that the area was secure the armed men went back to the SUV's and opened the back doors.

The moment they did Matt's nostrils were filled with the scent of alcohol, cigar ash and copious amounts of tattoo ink. He could hear the sound of ruined livers trying their best to filter the junk that entered the bodies of these men. Resisting the urge to vomit Matt concentrated so that his radar sense could get a better idea of what he was dealing with.

There were three men that had the most number of guards around them. Matt assumed they were the bosses. Britt Sr gave him a few photos but they were useless to Matt. 'Being blind sucks sometimes," He thought to himself. At least he got some names.

One of the bosses was a short man, 5'3 and was in his late sixties. His steps were small and his breathing laboured, probably due to decades of drinking and smoking. But he was the picture of perfect health compared to the man behind him. The second boss was fat. Extremely fat. Matt could tell from the outline provided by his radar that he weighed well over three hundred pounds. He also reeked of alcohol, weed, cocaine and a whole cabinet worth of other drugs. His breath was so laboured that Matt would have thought he was sprinting away from a tiger but the fat Yakuza boss was just walking.

'How is that guy still alive?" Matt thought as he heard the man's heart struggle to pump any blood to his body.

The teenager turned his attention to the final Yakuza boss. And this one was very different from the other two. Matt couldn't smell a hint of alcohol, cigar smoke or any harmful substance from this man. The blind teen could even taste the cucumbers from the man's salad. The man was 5'11 and had the heartbeat of someone in their mid forties, his gait indicated he was extremely fit and might have some martial arts experience. He was followed by a young teenager around Matt's age. He was shorter than Matt, being 5'7 but this guy had to be a fighter too. His gait was similar to the man be was following.

The three bosses are checked for weapons and they enter the warehouse. They take their seats at the large, marble round table and exchange pleasantries.

The fat one spoke first, "I, Yichiro of the Inagawa-Kai family am present and voting." Matt cringed upon hearing his voice. 'He sounds like the demonic spawn of Daffy Duck and Kermit the Frog.'

The older man moved his chair back and shivered slightly as he stood up. "I Kamagowa of the Sumiyoshi-Kai family am present and voting." His assistant hurried towards him, gently aiding him onto the chair and helping Kamagowa push it back towards the table.

The final member took his time, his elbows on the table and his hands forming a triangle. He stood up, Matt could hear the expensive silk of his suit flowing against his skin. "I, Nobu of the Yamaguchi-Gumi am present and voting. His voice was deep and gained Matt's attention quickly. He turned his head slightly after hearing the name. "Nobu."

Britt Sr warned Matt about Nobu. Back when he and Matt's mentor, Kato were heroes in the 80s the only reason why the Green Hornet and Kato couldn't take down the Yakuza was Nobu.

He was a low level enforcer at the time but he was able to go toe to toe with both Kato and Britt Sr simultaneously in their primes for minutes on end. Nobu rose up in the ranks of Yamaguchi-Gumi family, the biggest Yakuza family in the world and became the head of the New York division. If Matt could take him down tonight then half of the Yakuza's influence on the city would fade away.

Matt frowned, remembering that it was just a recon mission.

"Our first order of business is to discuss the terms and conditions of our deal with the Russian Bratva. We have paid handsomely for the use of their ports. And the information they have provided us regarding the package," the fat Yakuza boss, Yichiro said.

Matt was curious as to what this package was. The old man spoke up, "It is in the hands of our contact at the Agency has the package in hand and he will be arriving to the airport tomorrow morning at 5:05 exactly."

Yichiro spoke up again, "Is it wise for him to arrive by public transport. Surely we can fly him in ourselves."

Kamagowa shakes his head at the fat man's statement. "The police have been monitoring our flights very closely. They will know if we fly him over directly. But our source isn't on their radar. Hence, having him come by commercial aircraft is the best option. Nobu-san has even instructed him to meet his family in New York before meeting us. Like he usually would on a trip here to avoid suspicion."

Nobu decided to raise his voice, "Besides, Tomorrow we will have a contingency in place should he feel the urge to peddle back on our agreement. Isn't that right Sendo?" He asks the young teenager behind him rhetorically.

"Yes Uncle," he replied in a heavily accented Japanese. Matt sensed some hesitation in his voice. Perhaps even fear. 'Maybe he doesn't want to be here,' Matt thought.

The blind teen struggled to stop himself from barging in and taking them all out. He needed to know what the package was. One of the enforcers walked next to Nobu and whispered into his ear. He nods and beckons one of his other men to come to him.

Nobu stood up, "Gentlemen. It has come to my attention that we have a mole in our midst," Nobu said as he placed his arm around the man he called over. "A reporter of all things," he said through his teeth, a false smile plastered on his face.

Matt sensed the heart rate of the man next to Nobu go up. "Oh no," he said under his breath.

Nobu turned the man around, he lifted the smaller man's chin up so he could look him in the eye. Nobu's face was calm. Unmoving, almost as if a storm couldn't move him. But the man he had a hold of was sweating profusely, his eyes darting around.

The large Yakuza boss put his hand against the man's throat. "I am impressed that you evaded detection for so long. I have suspected we had a leak for the past year and it took us that long to find you. A mistake on my part," he said, his deep voice penetrating the undercover reporter's ears.

Nobu started to squeeze, "I shall rectify that mistake today," he said applying more pressure to the man's throat. The reporter was clawing at Nobu's hands, trying to release his grip. But these attempts barely affected the crime boss. He has killed stronger men than this.

Suddenly the sound of broken glass entered everyone's ears. Many of the guards occupying the corners fell to the ground a series of thunks could be heard. Nobu raised his free hand to shield his face as a Billy club attached to a cable wrapped around his arm.

The other bosses and guards ran in fear, seeing the red silhouette in the shadows. "Let him go," Matt demanded in Japanese, deepening his voice. Nobu stared at Matt, continuing to strangle the reporter with one hand. Before Matt could pull Nobu towards him he heard footsteps come towards him. He felt something in the air and ducked, a fist flying over him.

Matt responds by delivering an elbow to the man's face, making him fall hard onto the concrete bellow. The sound of the reporter's faltering heartbeat was still in Matt's ears. He heard four more men converge on his position. He retracted his Billy club from Nobu's hand and used it to block an incoming punch. This breaks a few knuckles in his opponents fist and Matt kicks him to the ground and he flips to the right, dodging an incoming bullet and he lands a kick on a guard trying to pull his gun out, making him shoot himself in the foot. Matt throws his Billy club at the man with the gun, disarming him. The Billy club ricochetes off the ground, into the temple of the fourth attacker as he made his way towards Matt. The teenager front flips towards the disarmed guard and delivers a right hook to his jaw. Knocking him out.

Matt was about to make his way towards Nobu and the reporter but was hit in the shoulder. Annoyed that he was too distracted to notice this new assailant Matt analysed his foe. It was Nobu's nephew.

The teenager was in a traditional three point karate stance and he shuffled towards Matt. He threw a kick, which Matt dodged by moving his head to the side. A spinning back fist was shot out, Matt blocked it with his elbows. Getting agitated, the hero grabs him by the arm and throws him over his shoulder, onto the ground.

Nobu, seeing his nephew being beaten by Daredevil grabs the reporter by head and slams him into a wall, fracturing his skull. He does this again and blood leaks from the man's head like yolk from a broken egg.

Matt noticed this and steps on the nephew's arm. Dislocating it. He screamed in pain, grabbing his injured appendage. Nobu stares at his nephew. "Sendo. Leave. I shall deal with this," he says in Japanese as Sendo struggles to get up. Matt could smell the reporters blood on Nobu's hands. He could feel the warmth from his corpse.

His fist starts to shake and he cracks his neck. 'I am going to break this guy,' he thought to himself as he rushes Nobu. Matt leaps over Nobu and gets behind him, he goes down and tries to use a leg sweep on the Yakuza boss. But Nobu simply steps back and kicks Matt in the face. Matt roles backward and stands up, rubbing the fresh wound on his cheek.

Matt steps forward but Nobu shoots out his leg, kicking Matt in the liver. The teens groans, thankful that his armour took some of the impact away. Nobu kicks Matt in the same area again, and again. With Matt slowly moving closer to the older fighter.

Matt was finally within punching range of Nobu, he assumed that Nobu would be too focused on making his kicks land and would be too distracted to block a punch to face.

The teenager delivers a quick jab but Nobu uses his right arm and grabs Matt by the wrist, he pulls him in and delivers an uppercut to the blind fighters jaw. Matt's head shoots up, his eyes stinging with tears. A good punch to the jaw can do that to even the most experienced fighter.

Nobu lowers his stance and runs towards the staggered Matt. He wraps his arms across the hero's waist and hoists him up. Nobu runs towards the Marble round table and when he reaches it, slams Matt into the centre of it.

The marble table crumbles under the force of the impact, dust flying in the air along with small chunks of rock.

Matt roles in pain, groaning and spitting out blood. Nobu picks up one of his unconscious body guards guns and removes the magazine, checking the number of bullets.

"I must say, I am disappointed Akuma-San," Nobu said in English as he loaded the pistol. "I expected more of a challenge from one trained by the chaste."

Matt tilted his head, "Th...The What?" He said, struggling to speak with the blood in his mouth. Nobu puts the gun to Matt's temple making the teen freeze, too injured to move his body.

"The old fool has left you blind to the true war. But that need not concern you Akuma-San," Nobu continues as he cocks the his back feeling like it was pummeled by Superboy Matt strained himself and grabbed the gun, moving it away from his head.

Nobu fired, missing his shot and Matt raised his legs and wrapped them around Nobu's throat. He shifts his bodyweight to the right and kicks Nobu aside.

The Yakuza boss stands up, hands raised expecting a fight. But as he looks around the warehouse he realised that Daredevil disappeared. He hears sirens in the distance and smirks. "Till next time."

* * *

"Ow," Matt yelped out loud as Claire applied some lotion to his back. "You are very lucky. Most people would've shattered every bone in their torso after getting thrown into a marble table," she said, applying bandages to Matt's chest and back.

Matt held an ice pack to his head to dull down a concussion. "Most people don't have super cool devil armour. Or have training from the Chaste," he said smirking.

Claire looked at him with a puzzled expression, "What's the Chaste?" Matt shrugged and immediately regretting it as his back burned from the effort. "That Nobu guy said I was trained by them. Guess Kato forgot to mention that he was part of some weird secret order or whatever," Matt said, his voice softening after mentioning his old mentor.

Mark looked at his brother and put his fingers against his temples, rubbing them. "Can't believe that guy did this to you man," the African American boxer said, annoyed he couldn't help his little brother.

Before Matt responded his head turned to the side. "Oh. Pizza guy's outside the building." Claire and Mark look out the window and see a delivery boy holding a box of pizzas. Mark playfully hit his brothers leg, "I'm never gonna get used to that. Need to borrow ten bucks Claire." The nurse sighs and goes through her purse, Matt becoming aware of it's contents by the sounds emanating from it. Claire hands her boyfriend the money and the large man goes down stairs to collect their food as she puts her medical equipment back in it's case.

"You know. Taking a few nights off wouldn't do you any harm," Claire addressed Matt using what he called the big sister voice. Matt smiled at the Cuban nurse and rubbed his head, "The Yakuza have some package coming in a few hours. Need to be on my toes. Need to be ready to take them down."

The two hear the living room door swing open as Mark came in with the pizzas. Matt stands up with an angry look. "Dude, I thought you said half the pizza wouldn't have pineapples."

Mark puts the warm boxes down, "I told them- wait, I didn't even open the boxes yet, how…" Matt puts his arms in the air, "I just do. This is why I hate Carlos' place, he always screws up the order."

"The pineapple is the cheapest. Besides, I told him not to add the fruit on one side," Mark continued, walking towards his brother.

The two argue about the pizza for the best part of five minutes. Claire awkwardly sat in the room, not sure what to do. Having enough, she stood up, "Guys. Guys, enough! Matt's just got busted up by the Japanese mafia and you two are arguing about a pizza?!" she asks incredulously, her voice akin to that of a strict English teacher.

Matt and Mark had blank expressions, not sure how to respond. "I've seen him like this a billion times. You kinda get used to it," Mark said. Claire raised an eyebrow and put her hand around her arm. "I've been patching him for months and I'm still not used to it. He takes more punishment in a day than most people do in a lifetime and he goes around and does the same thing again the next day. It's insane."

The blind teen shrugs, "Well the punishment bit's the Catholicism." Claire runs her hands through her hair. "Sorry. It's just…" Mark places a hand on her shoulder and sits her down, offering her a piece of pizza.

Claire thanks him and takes a bite, and almost spits it out. "You seriously like pineapples on pizza?" Matt gives Mark a cheeky smile as the large boxer closes the Pizza box. "Guess I'm ordering Chinese instead."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, 9th July, 2010** :

"It's ok. You can do this. You need to do this," Naveen Muthuraj said as he rode in the taxi. His plane arrived from Metropolis to New York a few minutes earlier than initially scheduled. By his estimation he'd reach his sister's house by 6 in the morning.

The man of Indian descent was sweating profusely, clutching his fake leather office bag like it was his new born child. His head barely had any hair on it and his suit was two sizes too big. He gained far too much weight the last few years and his diet of burgers and cake didn't help with that.

His wife insisted that he take a few days off to see his sister and her family. It always did him good. He complied but visiting his sister was just a cover story.

A cover story given to him by the Japanese mob. "Goddamn this country," he said under his breath when he remembered all the deals he had to make with the Yakuza.

The tires of the cab screeched to a halt and he was near the driveway of his sister's house. Naveen sighed, "You need to do this. Come on," he mutters to himself as he absent mindedly paid the cab driver a far too generous tip.

He almost trips near the doorway as he rings the bell. He exhales heavily. The door opens and he puts on a large smile. "Lalitha!" he exclaims in a tired voice as the two embrace.

She tells him her husband's away on business and walks him too the guest room. The two catch up, awkwardly avoiding a specific topic. "So, how's Prithi doing?" Lalitha asks Naveen.

Naveen sighs after hearing his wife's name. "She's...she's good. Responding well to the chemotherapy. Or so they tell me." He puts his head down. 'Oh. I also decided to leak classified documents to the Yakuza to get money for treatments but other than that I am doing great,' he thinks to himself.

The two hear the stairs creaking, Naveen stands up waiting to greet his nieces. "Uncle Naveen," a shrill voice said as the source of that voice ran towards him trapping him in a bear hug.

Naveen smiles as the young girl moves away, "Lakshmi, what have I told you about the hugging," he says with a mock stern tone. Lakshmi puts a hand on her hips, "Something about your back being hurt," she said with awkward smile. Naveen moves his bag, after he noticed that Lakshmi had her eyes on it.

Whenever he came to New York, Lakshmi never fails to hack Naveen's laptop and scroll through classified information. She never did anything malicious with that knowledge but a 15 year old girl who knows how to access the cities power grid or security cameras or an old Russian spy satellite was concerning.

Naveen decided to distract the young computer whizz. "How's school? Are still friends with that blind boy. Frederick?" Lakshmi rolled her eyes. "You know he's called Matt, Uncle."

"Where's your sister?" He asks moving his bag under his bed. "She's out of town for work," Lakshmi said trying to figure out how to bring up her sick aunt without seeming too insensitive. Naveen noticed this. "Your aunt will be fine."

"But I thought we were running out if money for her treatment?" She asked, looking directly at her uncle. Naveen put on a fake smile to reassure her. "Money's not an issue. Now go upstairs and don't go through my things," he said strictly.

Lakshmi made a scout sign to indicate she's going to respect his wishes. Though Naveen didn't understand the gesture. He shrugs and goes into the dining room to eat breakfast.

When he leaves the room Lakshmi takes the bag from the bottom of the bed and opens the bag up. She moves it around, amazed at the weight if it. 'It feels almost hollow.'

She opens the bag and sees a metal container. She takes it out and sees a lock on it. 'Please tell me the combination isn't my aunt's birthday,' she thinks hopefully. She puts the numbers in and the lock opens. Resisting the urge to slap her head at her Uncle's predictability she sees a small leather pouch. She slides the pouch open and sees a single USB drive. 'He should really have better security measures for this stuff.'

She pockets the drive and goes up stairs, grabbing a couple pakodas from the table. After she goes into her room, she fires up her laptop and inserts the drive after ensuring that the thing wouldn't send a signal to Washington upon its activation. The drive had fire walls in place. She typed in a program and she figured it would take around twenty minutes to decrypt. 'Wayne tech, wrist mounted computer would be real handy,' she thought, admiring her unintentional pun.

Wayne Industries said that their wrist mounted computers would only be viable for the public in five years. But many conspiracy theorists say that Wayne Industries already developed them and are proving the military with that gear.

Lakshmi knows that's not true, she's seen her uncle's previous files and as far as she knows no military outfit has that kind of tech. She shrugs as she gets ready for school.

By the time she was done her program was done breaking down the fire walls.

She opens the field, still eating her breakfast and her eyes open wide at what she was seeing. Missile plans from LexCorp. Capable of firing smaller missiles from the main one, capable of sending shock waves with a radius of ten miles. Killing anyone caught in it. They were fired remotely and were deadly expensive.

Lakshmi scratched her chin. Her Uncle usually has information regarding national security, not privatised warfare. "Why does he have files on missiles?"

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door, making her jump. "Lakshmi, your bus is here."

The teenager sees the time and swears. She ejects the drive and puts it in the leather case. She puts it in her purse and runs out her room, almost running into a wall. She jumps into the bus out of breath and sits down, a handful of students looked at her like she contracted the plague.

She gives them a facetious smile and sits next to the window.

* * *

 **Midtown high, New York, 9th July, 2010** :

Matt walked off the bus slower than usual. His back ached like hell and his head was still fuzzy. He spent hours doing his healing meditations but it could only do so much for the pain. He tapped his cane around, and rolled his shoulders. He tilts his head to the left as he hears a familiar heartbeat.

'1, 2, 3 and brace,' Matt thinks to himself as someone playfully jumps on his back. He held back a painful groan as he walks forward a few steps to regain his balance.

"Hi Lux," Matt says, doing his best not to punch his best friend in the face for hurting his back. Lakshmi looked at him with a puppy dog like face, "Sorry about that. Just happy to see you. You took, like the entire week off," she said gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, you're still alive," Britt Jr said putting his arm over Matt's shoulder. Matt suppressed another groan, 'Don't punch him. Don't punch him,' he repeated mentally like a mantra as the three stood silently.

Matt knew they could see the bruises on his face. They probably could tell he injured his back as well, or would do eventually. "It's nothing." Matt said, making his way inside the school building.

Lakshmi and Britt followed him briskly. "We're worried about you man. You don't answer our calls, you cut class, and whenever you do show up you look like you went twelve rounds with your brother," Britt said, the son of a millionaire had a concerned look on his face, his tone of voice slow and deliberate.

Matt felt a gentle hand on his cheek, making him recoil slightly in pain. Lakshmi then held his hand. "You can tell us what's happening you know. We won't say anything," she said, a small smile entered her lips.

Before he could respond Matt tensed up, 'No way,' Matt thought as he heard the heartbeat come closer. He heard a set of footsteps, the same he heard the night before. Matt held his cane with a tight grip.

"Sendo," Matt said quietly. 'Why is Nobu's nephew here. How did he find me?' Matt thought. He heard Sendo get closer, and the blind teen scanned his environment for the number of exits, people and escape routes he could use to bring Britt and Lakshmi to safety.

But much to Matt's surprise, when Sendo came into the view of his friends Lakshmi's heart rate increased. She walked towards Sendo and the two embraced and much to Matt's surprise started to kiss.

After the two separate, Matt had a bewildered look on his face. Britt sees this and whispers in his ear, "Ok. Lux and that senior guy, Sendo started going out a couple weeks ago. And, they're kissing," the millionaire to be said, thinking Matt didn't know what was going on.

"Yeah. Thanks for the info," Matt says sarcastically, lightly punching Britt in the shoulder, making the taller teen rub his arm. Sendo and Lux walk towards the two. The Japanese teenager puts his hand out, "I'm Sendo," he said. His voice almost as calm as his uncle's.

Sendo was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. His hair was spiked up and was wearing a sling. Matt smirked when he realised that, remembering he battered him last night.

"He's trying to shake your hand dude," Britt said pointing to Sendo. Matt gives a pained smile as he reaches his hand out. "Matt," he says quickly, his grip on Sendo's hand like a vice.

The two let go and Sendo waves his hand, surprised at the blind teens strength. Lakshmi steps forward, "What happened?" She asked regarding to Sendo's arm on a cast.

Sendo shrugged, "Some asshole threw me too hard in Judo practice yesterday." Matt heard his heart skip a beat when he said that. Everyone except Matt started talking, Britt and Sendo exchanging notes and stories about their various injuries over their amateur martial arts careers and Lakshmi being extremely bored about the subject matter. Matt just nodded, trying to figure out Sendo's angle. They walk to the class Britt and Lakshmi needed to attend and Sendo offered to walk Matt to his class. The blind teen obliged, saying goodbye to his friends.

"So, um how long you two been going out?" Matt asked rubbing the back of his head. "A couple weeks. I was kind of afraid to. You know?" Sendo said.

"Why?" Matt asked. Realising that Sendo probably didn't know his secret identity.

Sendo laughs, "I thought you two were together." The comment throws Matt of completely, "Wait. Why?"

The Japanese teenager puts his hands in his pockets, "Everyone in your year thought you two were a thing. Figured you knew." Matt shakes his head, he liked Lakshmi but not that way. "It's not a crime for people of the opposite gender being friends," Matt said.

Sendo nodded, then realise Matt wouldn't have seen it. "Yeah, no. I mean no it isn't." Matt wished for the first time in ages that he'd reach class as soon as possible.

"Does she like Thai food?" Sendo asked Matt. He looks at Sendo with a confused look. "I'm taking her to the mall. They've got a mean Thai place there."

"I'm sure she does." Matt said stopping in front of his class room. He says bye to Sendo and goes to his desk.

As he sits down he remembers that Nobu said something about a contingency. 'Package arrives today. Sendo's part of a contingency and he's taking Lux out. What the hell are they planning?' Matt asks himself as the teacher enters the class.

* * *

At lunchtime Matt was far less talkative than usual. Britt was teasing Lux about Sendo, they complained about their crappy teachers and Matt sat there, cupping his hands. Thinking.

After school was over Matt casually asked when Lakshmi's date was. After he found out it was at seven he pretended to make his way home. But he took a different route. Matt ditched his cane and backpack in an old fire escape and put on a spare hoodie he kept in his bag. He took off his red sunglasses and pocketed them.

He searched for a specific heartbeat and when he locked onto it he started following it. Sendo was walking with his good hand in his pockets, a toothpick between his teeth. 'Jesus, it's like this guy is trying to look like a prick,' Matt thought as he tried to drown out the noise of the tooth pick grinding against Sendo's teeth.

Matt blended into the crowd, making sure he didn't look too obvious. After about fifteen minutes Matt hears a fight in a nearby alley way. He was about to ditch Sendo and intervene but was surprised as he heard Sendo walk towards the fight.

"What do we have here?" Sendo asks rhetorically, spitting out the tooth pick. The three thugs looked at the relatively short teenager in a sling and laugh. "This ain't a party kid. Get outta here before you hurt yourself," the largest thug said.

Sendo looked down to see that the person they were beating on was an old man. A torn paper bag filled with groceries were next to him. Sendo took his hand out of his pocket and went into a traditional three point karate stance. Like he did with Daredevil.

"This isn't your territory. The Yamaguchi-Gumi don't take kindly to guys like you, hurting innocent men," Sendo said making his way to the thugs.

"Kid thinks he's Yakuza. It's kinda adorable," one of the thugs says, standing in front of Sendo. The Japanese teen didn't reply. Instead he delivered a punch to the large man's throat. The thug stumbles back and collapses next to a wall, unable to breath properly.

The other two thugs start surrounding Sendo, the biggest one on the side of his dislocated shoulder. Matt was witnessing this on top of a small building. Ready to intervene if necessary, he needed Sendo alive.

The two rush Sendo, but he simply steps forward and they run into each other. He delivers a swift kick to the ribs of one thug, the same on his uncle used on Daredevil the night before. He kicks the bigger thug in the knee and punched him in the jaw, knocking him out.

Sendo rubs his fist against his shirt, annoyed that be bruised his fist. He helps the old man get up and directs him to a police officer, but Sendo leaves to avoid needing to give a statement.

Matt goes back to the ground and continues to follow Sendo on foot. 'What is up with you?' Matt asks himself. The young Yakuza in training entered a Japanese restaurant. He greets the staff, asking about their families and their day. After that he walks up stairs where Matt hears another familiar heartbeat.

"Nobu."

Matt was outside the restaurant, the smell of rice vinegar, seaweed and rice entered his nose. The clanging of woks on pans entered his ears along with the sound of growling stomachs and wagging tongues. He could feel the saliva accumulate in his mouth, tasting the food feet away from the restaurant. But slapped himself on the back, his injuries hissing with pain.

He needed to focus. He drowned all the noise out and focused on what was happening upstairs. Nobu was typing on a laptop and Sendo bows to his uncle.

"You're late," Nobu told his nephew in Japanese, not even looking away from his computer. A drop of sweat fell from Sendo's head. "I was held up," he said, his voice quivering. Nobu closed his laptop and stood up, towering over his nephew. "Held up doing what exactly?"

Sendo gulped, "I aided an elderly citizen being harmed by some thugs."

Nobu stared at his nephew, his gaze never changing and his eyes never blinking. "My boy. The mission today requires that you be in peak capacity. Akuma-San already harmed you last night. We can't afford for you to be injured any further," the older Yakuza boss said, his voice firm but softer than usual.

The teenager looked into his uncle's eyes. "You told me that our organisation helps people. I saw someone in need and helped." Nobu squinted his eyes further and walks away. "You are still to naive. We cannot help the world if you get harmed saving a single person. You need to focus on the mission, nephew. That is what matters," Nobu said looking out the window, his hands behind his back.

Sendo bowed again. "I am meeting her tonight at the mall. As instructed. Her Uncle will provide us with the missile plans. But…"

Nobu turned around, a questioning look on his face. Sendo looked away, "No harm will come to _her_ right? She should not suffer for our mission."

The crime boss stares at his nephew. "You are simply there to provide… incentive, should Mr. Muthuraj have a last minute change of heart. An image of one of our own with his niece will guarantee that he delivers the plans."

Sendo lets out a deep breath. He didn't want Lakshmi to be harmed in this mission. She was too kind for that.

Matt continued listening in. The fat Yakuza boss would be the one in charge of the exchange at the mall. His entire security detail would be in the mall in normal clothing. They would jam all calls to 911 and have Lux and Sendo filmed. That footage would be used to coax Lakshmi's uncle in case he got cold feet.

The teenager makes his way back home. He needed his suit, he had a friend to protect.

* * *

Matt sat on the top of the mall's roof. He informed Detective Blake about the Yakuza involvement but neglected any information that might compromise his identity. Blake said they needed someone to call 911 or there wouldn't be enough officers at the scene. Since the Yakuza were blocking all cell phone calls to the cops Matt instructed Mark to be further down the street next to an old pay phone. And on his signal he'd call the cops and give an anonymous tip.

All Matt had to do now was wait.

* * *

"I hope I look ok," Lakshmi told herself as she moved her hair around. She spent the whole evening picking and outfit for her date with Sendo. This was her first date so she had no idea what to wear. Since her male friends would be useless in giving advice on that front, she called her sister.

Which turned out to be a mistake since she spent half an hour just rambling about excited she was that Lakshmi had a boyfriend and how she didn't think her little sis had it in her. She then expressed her disappointment that Matt wasn't said boyfriend. Lakshmi then ranted for ten minutes on how it was ok for two people to be just friends and then after all that they finally got to the clothes part.

After trying on a number of different outfits, Lakshmi decided to just wear something normal. She wore skinny blue jeans, a sleeveless yellow top and a blue cardigan. She told her mom she was studying with a friend and made her way to the mall. "This is going to be great," she said to herself excitedly, almost skipping in the process.

She checked her bag, 'Hand sanitizer, phone, purse, that USB case. Oops, forgot to put them back into Uncle Naveen's bag. I'm sure it'll be fine,' the young hacker thought to herself.

Matt could hear the Yakuza occupy the mall, all presumably in normal clothing. They had head pieces in their ears, relaying instructions. Lakshmi's uncle had been waiting in a café at the mall. He was rocking back and forth like a toddler on a swing. The USB drive was gone. He had no idea where it was. Lakshmi never took his things for more than a few minutes. And the Yakuza would be here any minute. 'Oh God,' he thought, wiping the sweat off his brow.

Matt heard enough to figure out that he didn't have the missile plans. 'Does Lux have them?'

Sendo's footsteps were entering the mall. 'I am at the location,' he said into his earpiece. 'Good, is the girl here?' a whiny voice asked, Matt detected the source of the voice, the fat Yakuza boss, Ichiro. He was waiting in a shop opposite the café Lakshmi's uncle was in.

Sendo opened his phone and called Lakshmi, she picked up, almost dropping her phone, saying she came to top floor of the mall. The Japanese teenager took the escalator to his girlfriend. 'She's here,' Sendo said in Japanese into the communicator.

Lakshmi waves her hand in the air when she sees Sendo. He smiles awkwardly at her, 'I hope your uncle doesn't screw up the deal,' he thinks to himself, before kissing her.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE IT!" Ichiro asked, the fat Yakuza boss blew cigar smoke whenever he spoke, making Naveen uncomfortable. "I had it in my bag. I don't know where it is!' he said, gesturing wildly to his bag.

Ichiro takes a long inhale of his cigar. He allows Naveen to see the embers fall from the carcinogenic item and he blew smoke directly into his face. "We have spent a considerable amount to acquire the information in that drive. Your wife needs the money we will provide. But if that isn't enough incentive perhaps this will make you more open," Ichiro said.

The fat Yakuza boss gestured to one of his underlings who brought over a tablet. When the display is turned on footage of Lakshmi and Sendo holding hands appeared. Naveen's eyes open in shock. Ichiro laughs, his large belly vibrating in the process. "My man has your niece's attention. If we feel you won't respect our deal, he is instructed to eliminate her. Shame, she is quite pretty."

Tears welled up in Naveen's eyes. "I am telling you. I do not have it. My niece might have taken it without my permission. Let me talk to her, I am sure she will give it back."

The Indian man stood up but two Yakuza guards forcefully put him back in his chair. "You might warn the girl, I won't risk that. Tell the men to take her out. Sendo is too soft, he doesn't have the stomach to do it," the fat man ordered. His lieutenant whispered into his ear in Japanese, "Sir, Nobu-san instructed that the girl not be harmed."

Ichiro stood up, his gut moving the table he sat behind in the process. "You take orders from me. Not Nobu, now take care of the girl and get me that drive." The lieutenant nodded his head and gave the order for his men to get Lakshmi.

Sendo hears this and attempts to grab Lakshmi's bag. She moves back and gives him a frustrated look. "Dude, what're you doing?"

"I'm sorry," Sendo said, looking at the men behind the railings at the opposite side of the floor they were on. Lakshmi sees all these men coming at her direction and she attempts to go down the escalator. But four large men were coming up. She back peddles but sees that the men on her floor were about to reach her. She had nowhere to run.

But she notices that one side of the mall only had one man coming towards her, she hit Sendo in the face with her bag, barely hurting the teenager but was enough to distract her and she ran past the one man to the left, who wasn't expecting her to run towards him. He drops his gun and Lakshmi picks it up, pointing it at him, making him lower to the ground. She backed up slowly then ran again.

Ichiro sees the footage and screams, "We need that bag. Get it damn it." Lakshmi ran across the top floor of the mall, going down some unoccupied escalators.

Matt goes inside the mall and vaults down to the floor Lakshmi was on. He hears Sendo and five other men run the escalator to chase Lakshmi. Matt leaps down to the bottom of the escalator and throws one of the men over his head.

The commotion makes the people in the crowd shout out. Lakshmi looks back and sees Daredevil fighting off some of the men chasing her. Still clutching her purse and the gun she picked up she runs into a large showroom, hoping to hide there.

One of the Yakuza tries to kick Matt but the teenager crouches down and grabs his opponents legs. He lifts him up and throws him into the escalator rails, making the man roll in pain. One man grabs Matt from behind, but Matt steps on his foot and pushes him down the gap between the escalators, making the man fall multiple stories onto an inflatable display below, breaking his fall.

Matt runs after Lakshmi. She hears her hiding behind some surfboards. Matt grabs her by arms, she screams and closes her eyes, her finger pulling the trigger. The bullet hits Matt in the shoulder, the least armoured part of the body and he falls backwards and clutches his shoulder.

"What the hell is wrong with you Lux?" Matt shouts out, not bothering to change his voice. Lakshmi drops the gun, horrified by what she had done but then her mouth opens wide after she recognised the voice. "Lux? Wait, Matt!?" She exclaimed.

'Well that cat's out the bag,' Matt thought. Daredevil put his hand to her mouth and told her to be quiet. "Why are they after you?" He asks quietly. Lakshmi breathes sporadically but calms down. "The bag. My bag. It um...has a drive with...oh god…"

"You're doing great, do you have the drive?" Matt says, trying to calm her down. She nods and he sits her down. "Come with me," he instructs kindly. She walks in front of him up the escalator, Matt knew there were fewer Yakuza up there than the lower floors. He signals Mark via his communicator to call Blake and the two go up.

Lux runs ahead but one of the Yakuza tries to grab the bag. Matt leaps over the two and kicks the man in the chest making him fall.

Another man attempts to punch Lakshmi but Matt gets in the way, taking it for her. She moves aside as Matt steps on the man on the ground whilst simultaneously parrying the attacks of the other man. Matt head butts him and uses a hammer fist on the guy he has pinned to the ground.

Satisfied that they were knocked out he grabs Lakshmi and runs with her along the corridor that leads to the exit. But stops after hearing three men behind the wall of the exit.

One man that was behind them grabbed Lakshmi by the hair. Matt threw his Billy club at the man's head and picked him up. He threw the man at the three men coming from the exit knocking them down. He ricochettes the Billy club across all their heads to render them unconscious. Two other men and Sendo appear behind Matt and grab him. They punch him in the face and gut and Chuck him off the floor into a stall, breaking it under his weight. Matt's back starts to hurt again and he could barely stand up.

Sendo leads his two lackies who were dragging Lakshmi with them back into the mall. Some mall guards with sticks try and stop them but Sendo turns his injured arm away from them and uses a knife hand strike to the side of one security guards neck. His goons take care of the other guard. By the time they finished with the guards Matt made his way back to their floor. They see this and go into a large shop.

Matt grapples one man with the line from his Billy club and propels him forward into a jewelry display case, making glass shatter into the man's skin. This distracts Sendo and the other men who appeared. The crowd looked at the fight with confusing looks.

Lakshmi breaks free from the man holding her but Sendo kicks her to the ground before she could reach Matt. Daredevil's blood boils after hearing Lakshmi hit the ground. He screams in rage as he engages two men in combat. He used his knee to sever ones kidney and used his elbow to break the others jaw.

He wasn't playing around anymore.

Sendo kicks Matt in the face making him stumble backwards, his injuries from the previous night being exacerbated by the punishment he was taking today. Lakshmi held Matt steady and made sure he didn't fall over.

Two more Yakuza entered the shop, holding baseball bats. Matt was breathing heavily and wondered, 'How many guys do they have?' He puts Lakshmi behind him and walks toward the Yakuza. They start swinging at him and Matt ducks under their attacks. He couldn't see an opening and pushes Lakshmi to the side as gentle as he could. He lept over some metal clothing hangers and noticed they had wheels. He rolled one into one of the men, his bat getting stuck. Matt bent his arm against the metal, shattering it.

The other man swung at Matt but he just raised his arm and tensed it before the weapon hit him, shattering the wooden object on impact. He delivers a quick jab to the stunned Yakuza's chin, knocking him out.

Sendo grabs Lakshmi by her shirt and drags her and the bag along. Matt lunges at him but Sendo throws Lakshmi into him, making him fall on his back in an attempt to catch her. She rolled off of him and Sendo noticed Matt was rolling on the floor in pain. He stomps onto the vigilante mercilessly, Matt unable to raise his arms or legs to defend himself on account of his injured back.

Lakshmi sees this and picks up the baseball bat Matt neglected to break on half. She makes her way towards Sendo and hits him as hard as she could with the bat. The impact made Sendo crumble to the ground. He wasn't used to those kind of injuries. She hits Sendo again, but aims for his dislocated arm. This makes him wail in pain. She wanted to hit him again but saw the look on his eyes.

He was terrified of her.

She dropped the bat, and walked slowly to her bag. She fought back tears as she helped Matt up. The two limp out of the shop back to some escalators but Matt feels something move in the air. He moved Lakshmi out of the way but the man's kick hit her bag, making it fall between the gaps of the escalator on to the ground floor. Matt grabs the man by the head and slams it repeatedly into the wall nearby.

Ichiro sees the bag and waddles towards it, his large frame slowing him down considerably. Naveen attempts to grab the fat Yakuza boss but Ichiro swats him away like a fly.

Matt perched himself on top of a ledge that peered down to the ground floor. He couldn't use his Billy clubs to grapple down, a large chandelier was in the centre of the mall that led the way to the first floor. He'd crash into it if he tried to grapple. The escalators were too slow. He wouldn't reach the bag in time.

If he couldn't get past the chandelier than he'd have to use it. Matt could feel the heat being emitted from the thousands of light bulbs strung around the chandelier. He breathes in and out, bracing himself for what he was about to do.

He lets out a scream from the depths of his throat and jumps onto the chandelier, sliding down the three story behemoth like a fireman's pole. Dozens of bulbs burst every second Matt slid down the chandelier, feeling like grenades to his enhanced senses.

He slips at the final few feet of the chandelier and falls onto his back, at least a dozen feet. He hears laboured breathing charging towards him and be rolls out of the way. Ichiro missed Matt and the teenager spring up from the ground, despite his body telling him not to. The fat Yakuza boss charges at Matt again who side steps him and trips him up.

He slides forward onto the ground and Ichiro laid there like a turtle on his back. Matt picked up the bag as he heard sirens approach. He waits for the cops to arrive and he hands the bag to Blake giving him a brief summary of the events.

Matt moves his head where Lakshmi was and smiled, she smiled back, hoping no one noticed. Matt put well over two dozen Yakuza in the hospital. Many were high ranking members, and one was head of the New York division of one of the largest Yakuza families.

* * *

Naveen was arrested on charges of espionage and treason. His testimony would put away all these men.

The blind vigilante observed Lakshmi whilst she was in the hospital. He needed to make sure she was ok, despite his body feeling like it was on fire. After some thorough examinations the doctor concluded that she was fine physically, she had minor bruises but would be fine in a couple weeks.

The police escorted her and her mother, who arrived at the hospital home. There would be officers stationed outside the house to protect them.

* * *

Upon reaching their house Lakshmi went straight to her room and slammed the door. She didn't want to speak to her mom. She couldn't, not after what she saw. What she had found out. What she'd done.

She could see Sendo's face. His smile when she agree to go out with him, she remembered the first time they had kissed. She remembered his face when she hit him with that baseball bat.

Tears streamed down her face, "Don't cry Lux, you're better than that," she said, not wanting to feel weak. Her phone started to buzz, she ignored it. She had been receiving calls from her father, sister, Britt, Matt. She didn't feel like talking to them just yet.

She almost fell off of her bed when she heard knocking on her window. She picked up a hair straightener - closest thing to a weapon she had - and glared out the window. She sighed loudly when she saw what the source of the noise was.

Matt, in full Daredevil attire waving into her bedroom window. She chuckled awkwardly, not able to process what was happening. She opened the window and let him in. Matt thanked her and took off his helmet, in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable.

"How are you? Wait, no. That was a stupid question. Um… do you, like, want to talk," Matt bumbled awkwardly as Lakshmi put down the hair straightener. She sits on the bed and puts her head in her hands. "I guess I do now," she says.

Matt sits besides her and groans. He felt blood leaking every time he moved. Lakshmi looks at him with concern. "I guess I know why you're injured all the time," she says, putting her hand on Matt's face, her skin cold and somewhat soothing his inflamed skin.

"Yeah, well, I was running out of bullshit excuses for you and Britt so this puts half that burden off my shoulders," he said, clutching his shoulder, where Lakshmi shot him.

She sees this and almost tears up again. "I shot you. Oh my god. I shot you!" Tears fall out of her eyes, expecting Matt to leave when she mentioned that. But instead she felt a gloved hand wipe the tears from her cheek. She looks into his glazed eyes, unsure of what to say.

"You saved my life. I've known guys who trained their whole lives to fight. But the moment they face actual contact they froze. But you didn't. You acted and took down a guy beating on your friend. That takes guts," he said, giving her a wide and warm smile.

"I could have killed him," she said, the tears fading from her face. "But you didn't. You had every right to but you stopped before going too far. Some people don't have that kind of control," Matt said, his voice going husky saying the last few words.

Lakshmi gives him a puzzled look, "So. Have you…?" Matt interjects, "I killed an innocent woman, going after Bullseye. Everyone says it was self defence since she attacked me first. But I shouldn't have done that. I don't have the right to kill anyone," Matt said, turning his 'gaze' away from Lakshmi.

She looks at his friend with an expression of pity and admiration, she embraced him as gently as possible, so as to not aggravate his wounds any further. "You haven't killed anyone since. Most people our age just waste time by texting, screwing around town or I dunno, dating. But you spend your life saving people. You're a hero dude."

Matt laughed, "I guess you're not doing the whole dating thing again for a while," He said diverting the topic. Lakshmi shakes her head, "No way. Not in a million years," she says smiling as she did it. Matt twitched his neck, "You know. Most of the year thought we were dating?" He said rhetorically.

"I know! Why did they think that?" She said, holding his hand. Matt shrugged, "To be fair, we're holding hands all the time," he said raising their hands. Lakshmi scoffs, "You're blind. I needed to guide you around. Wait, are you blind? Is the glazed eye thing fake or something?"

Matt sighs. "I'm blind. Never faked that." She takes a while to stomach that information, "But I saw you fight. No offense, but how do you do all that?"

He opens his hands up. "I can't see, not like everyone else. But I can feel, I hear a lot, like your neighbour putting her kids to sleep, a dog barking a few miles away or your heartbeat. I can taste the pakodas you had this morning, I can smell the alcohol from a dingy shop a block away. I can feel radio waves in the air, balance, blankets of temperature variation, vibrations in the ground, things moving in the air. All that stimuli put together and I have to form an image in my head, like an impressionistic painting of sorts."

She shakes her head in disbelief, "Ok, but what does that look like?" He turns to her, trying his best to word his answer.

"A world on fire," he says, analysing his surroundings.

"Wow. If all I saw was fire l would wanna punch bad guys too," she said facetiously. Matt and Lakshmi laugh.

They continue to talk for a few more hours, Matt telling her about the team, who knows his secret and other stuff, till Matt's injuries hurt a bit too much. "You sure you can be alone?" He asks putting on his helmet. She nods and Matt vaults out the window.

Lakshmi looks up, "He knew I nodded. My blind friend who's a superhero knew I nodded," she said, unable to believe she said that out loud.

* * *

Ichiro was hooked up to some machines, he needed them to breathe since Daredevil hurt him. The fat Yakuza boss cursed the vigilante with all his will. He refused to eat the pig excrement they called food at this hospital.

"My lawyers will have to sort the food out," he said to himself in Japanese. He looked around as the lights went out, before he could call a nurse he felt a blade against his throat.

"I gave you explicit instructions not to harm the girl. Sendo would have gotten the contents from the bag eventually, but in your haste you ordered your men to attack her. And as a result of your actions, over two dozen of our best men are behind bars now," a deep, commanding voice said in Japanese. The man wore red, ninja robes, the bottom part of his face covered in red cloth.

"N...Nobu-san!" Ichiro yelped. "Forgive me for my insolence. I acted far too rashly. Please forgive me. I pledged my life to the Yakuza," the fat Yakuza boss said, his hands in a praying position.

Nobu looks down at his prey, "I am more than Yakuza old friend. The Hand sends their regards," he says as he slices Ichiro's throat.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap.**

 **No more chapters till late November. Exams and all. Decided to further Matt's own story this chapter. The next couple chapters will be based on episodes 2 and 3.**

 **I hope the stuff outside the show doesn't disinterest you all. Let me know what you think.**

 **Now onto comments!**

 **PandakaiLove:**

 **Hey great chapter again! I really love how you write this story and while the biginning was a little to similar to the show it's true that there isn't much that can be changed in that part. I appreciate so much that someone else besides me noticed the stupidity of letting Desmond finish his dialogue and drink the serum, go Matt! To be honest I can kind of see that with the other sidekicks except Robin, you were trained by batman show it! Another thing I liked that you changed was the superman and superboy meeting, I found it odd that superman (the perfect boy scout) would act so badly towards superboy. I can understand at the beginnind not knowing how to act but just plain ignoring him and undermining superboy? not cool.  
Can't wait for the next chapter! keep going!**

 **Me: Honestly, the whole scenario of Matt knocking out Desmond before he drank the Blockbuster serum spawned because I was writing this late at night and really didn't want to write a massive fight scene. So when I watched that scene again I was like "Wait. Why don't I make Matt take him out?"**

Anyway, thanks for the response man. Comments like this really motivate me to keep writing.

 **1jesus:**

 **Very nice, will Matt be with Artemis or Jade/Cheshire Cat?**

 **Me: Um, neither. Their romantic arcs are perfect in the show. I couldn't improve that in any way. But a certain love interest of Daredevil's will be introduced after a couple chapters. So stay tuned.**

 **c10 Justaguest:**

 **Hoo boy, Aqualad taking Daredevil to task for brutal methods beyond what is necessary and Daredevil being the only one to stop Desmond from escalating the conflict. hmmm, in YJ Aqualad became the leader after Robin handed it over to him. Would there be conflict of leadership over Aqualad and Daredevil? On a side note, how would M'gann's telepathy work with Daredevil's senses? In the comics, when psylocke tried to read his mind, it was painful for her.**

I did enjoy this chapter and I look forward to the next one.

 **Me: Well the conflict of leadership won't happen till the 3rd episode. So you'll have to wait and see. I honestly didn't think of M'gann struggling with Matt's senses telepathically, since I skipped the X-Men vs Avengers event a few years ago. So totally spaced out on the fight with psylock. I'll have to think about that.**

 **Thanks for the idea. I could do a lot with that.**

 **Hero:**

 **I can't wait till you come back to this it's one of the best stories ever and if you watched Daredevil (Netflix) there's a season 3 now and it's cool, so will Wilson Fisk the Kingpin be added into this too?**

 **Me: I got into Daredevil thanks to that show. I didn't plan on introducing Fisk till the second season. His conflicts with Matt as a lawyer and vigilante, along with the whole two sides of the same coin thing make that pair up interesting.**

 **If I do season 2 of YJ then he will be added if not then no. But plans change so who knows.**

 **P.s. Daredevil season 3 was awesome, I'm amazed at the depth they added to Bullseye.**

 **Well that's it I guess.**

 **Till next time.**

 **See ya.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Welcome to Happy Harbour:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Saturday, July 17th, 2010:**

"Dick, I told you I'm busy. Call me later," Matt said impatiently as he was dodging gunfire, leaping across rooftops. The car full of gunmen have been firing at him for over half an hour, and whenever they thought they had lost him, Matt would leap across their hood and grapple back on top of a building with his Billy club, making them fire at him again.

He had spent the past few days in his civilian attire, following the Yakuza around. He needed to stop their heroine racket and cut off their cash flow, or at least part of it.

The cops had what they called ' _hot spots'_ , for suspected Yakuza drug suppliers. The authorities knew they bought used cars and supplied their drugs to various locations in New York that way. But their base of operations changed every few days ever since Nobu killed Ichiro, in order to avoid detection. The fat mob bosses death was a mystery, no one knew who did it so the entire Yakuza took extra precautions. Especially those who were involved in the drug racketeering.

Knowing this Matt swiped one known Yakuza enforcers phone, added some tech Lakshmi cooked up for it, placed it back in his pocket and had her track it. She informed Matt of the enforcer's location, and now a car filled with Yakuza were going to lead Daredevil to their temporary base.

But Matt was suspicious, none of his assaults on criminals ever go this smoothly. "What could possibly go wrong?" He asked himself, immediately regretting it.

The teenager heard a loud sonic boom in the distance, "Oh God no," Matt said as he realized what the source of the sound was. The Yakuza in the car noticed a yellow blur coming towards them via the rear view. One of the gangsters opens the window to shoot at it but he disappears from the car the moment he does so.

The blur started to make a fist with his hand and he put it through the window of the driver's seat, causing the driver to lose control and the car to crashes into a lamppost. "And Kid Flash saves the day!" the speedster exclaims, rubbing his hand. He sees Matt on top of a building and gives him a two-fingered salute, and runs towards him. The blind teenager grumbled in annoyance as cop cars surrounded the Yakuza.

Aqualad and Robin make their way to Matt as well. Robin splayed his arms in disbelief, "Dude, we told you to wait up," he says to Kid Flash. Before the speedster could make a comeback Daredevil pushes him against a wall, and pins him there by the neck.

"Daredevil, calm yourself," Aqualad said, using his superior strength to pull Matt away from Kid Flash, who was now rubbing his throat. "Hey, I just helped you," he told Matt with a hoarse voice. Matt tilts his head in amusement, "Help me? Alright, let me ask you a question. Who supplies the Yakuza with their heroine?"

Kid Flash looks at Matt with a blank expression, "Um…" Matt continues, "Ok. How about this. How do they determine their pattern for dealing the heroine to various other criminal fronts?"

The speedster raised a finger to try and get a word in but he was too slow to respond, "Alright," Matt said, walking right in front of him. "I'll ask you something simple. WHERE THE HELL IS THEIR BASE OF OPERATIONS FOR THE HEROINE?" He yells out, making Kid Flash turn his head away.

"But I caught them," he said, trying to justify his actions. "I didn't need them caught. I needed them scared. They keep changing their distribution pattern and their base's location. The cops have been marking these men for weeks and I managed to finally ID a car with the drug that was heading towards their base. I was following them and planned to inform the cops when I secured the base. And you screw up all that work in less than a minute!" Matt said, scolding his friend.

Kid Flash sees police officers arresting the Yakuza members, "Won't the cops get them to talk?" Matt stands at the edge of the building, staying as far away from Kid Flash as possible, seeing as though he didn't want to strangle the speedster again. "Those guys are Yakuza. They'd sooner cut their tongues out than talk to the cops."

Matt exhales deeply, trying to calm himself down. He turns to the three, "Why are you guys here?" Robin was the first to speak up, "We've been trying to call Speedy, you know, to ask him to join the team."

"But he is not responding," Aqualad continued. Kid Flash joined in, "So...We wanted to go to Star City and ask him directly!"

"Oh, you want to wreck his shit up too?" Matt asks, pointing to the crashed car. "Yeah. Wait-no. I mean...we thought you'd probably be able to convince him," Kid Flash said sheepishly.

Matt shrugged, "Why me? I barely know the guy."

"Because," Aqualad said calmly, "Roy believes that by joining the team he would be forgoing his independence as a hero. But you are direct evidence that contradicts that belief." A wide smile entered Robin's face, "Yeah, besides. It's not like you have anything better to do.

Matt, heard the now useless Yakuza being arrested. He shook his head and conceded, "Fine. I may as well do something productive today," he said, removing his Billy club from its holster. Robin and Kid Flash high fived each other but Daredevil had one last thing to say to the red-headed speedster.

"By the way. If you screw up at Star City," Daredevil said, pointing to Kid Flash, "I'm having Robin taze you," he finished without saying anything to indicate he was joking. Matt jumps off the building, and Kid Flash laughs nervously, "He was kidding right?" Aqualad gave his teammate a small smile, "I do not believe so." Robin eagerly rubbed his hands together, hoping that Kid Flash would screw up.

* * *

 **Star City, Sunday, July 17th, 2010** :

Two thugs wait patiently as the container was being lowered by crane. When it hit the ground they opened its large metal doors and remove a large case from it. A small sound was heard a few feet away from them. They look down and see an arrow. The tip of the arrow lit up and gas was emitted from it.

They drop the case they were carrying and it opens up, revealing high powered laser weapons. One of the weapons bounces out only to be picked up by a large, dreadlocked man in a black suit.

Brick. He was an orange skinned man standing at seven feet tall, with nigh invulnerable skin. He pointed his gun at where the arrow must have come from, the top of the crane. He spots the archer and much to his disappointment it wasn't Green Arrow. It was Speedy.

The young archer looks down as Brick complains about not being good enough to get Green Arrow's attention and how he shouldn't send a boy to do a man's job.

He fires at Speedy who leaps onto a steel girder to avoid the incoming shots. After dodging some more he lands on a small bridge and runs along it, hoping to avoid the incoming fire. A laser bolt comes towards him and the young archer does a front flip and simultaneously fires an explosive arrow into Brick's weapon.

It goes off and damages the large metahumans suit. Brick, looks at the tattered remains of his clothes and lets out a growl of frustration. "Do you have any idea how much I pay to get a suit my size?"

He looks to his goons, "Scorch the earth boys," he instructs them as they arm themselves with laser guns. A yellow blue takes out three while one man is disarmed by a batarang and the other by a Billy Club. Robin and Daredevil swing on top of a container with the former giving out an echoing laugh.

Aqualad jumps down and uses his water bearers to take out the disarmed thugs. Brick ignores all this and removes a large piece of concrete from the road and launches it at Speedy. He ducks down to avoid the large projectile and fires another explosive arrow. The impact takes the breath out of Brick but does little damage. He throws another piece of earth at Speedy but it was cut in half by Aqualad, forming a water sword with his bearers.

Speedy fires a smoke arrow at Brick and stands next to the Atlantean. "The cave is perfect, it has everything the team will need," Aqualad said putting his weapons away. Robin lands behind them. "For covert missions. You know, spy stuff." Kid Flash runs up to them, "And wait till you see Superboy and Miss Martian. But I saw her first," he says pointing to himself.

Daredevil moves Kid Flash and Robin out of the way as Brick throws another slab of earth at them. Aqualad destroys this one as well and Speedy aims another arrow at the invulnerable crime boss. Brick smirks, three more explosive arrows hit him and do nothing to penetrate his skin. "Tell Arrow he shouldn't send his boy to take me on."

The red haired archer, annoyed by his comment aimed one more arrow. The large crime boss stands up straight and opens his arms and chest out. "Go ahead kid," he says, willing to take the hit.

Speedy lets the arrow go and it hits Brick square in the chest. But much to his surprise, a red foam starts to envelop his body. After a few moments, it hardens and immobilises him.

Kid Flash runs back to Speedy. "High density polyurethane foam. Nice," the speedster says complementing the archer. He walks away from the loud mouthed Speedster, but the others were waiting for him.

"So Speedy, you in?" Robin asks, his arms crossed across his chest. The archer looks at him, "I'm done letting Arrow and the League tell me what to do. I don't need a babysitter or some clubhouse hangout with the other kids. You're junior Justice League is a joke. Something to keep you busy and in your place. I want no part of it."

Matt laughs derisively as Speedy walks away. "Is something funny?" The archer asks in an irritated manner. Matt walks towards Roy, "Sorry. It's just, I'm trying to figure out why you became a hero. Because this job, Roy. Our job is to help people who can't help themselves. To stop bad guys that no else can. That no one else will."

He pokes Roy's Mask, "If you're doing this just because you want to prove yourself, then maybe you don't deserve to be on the team. You see, unlike you, we don't care how we do the job, whether it's under League jurisdiction or whether if we do it under our own volition, like we did just now," Matt said gesturing to the docks.

"Get your head out of your ass. You want to go solo so badly, fine. It's your life, your decisions. But make sure that you're doing it for the right reasons, and not just to stick it to Green Arrow and the League."

Roy looked at Matt with an intense expression, but said nothing as he walked back into the shadows. The blind teenager stretches his arms and leaps off the container they were standing on, "Alright guys. Can we leave now?"

The three just look at him, unable to speak. "Sure," Kid Flash said running towards Daredevil, itching to get back home. "You owe me for tonight," Matt told Kid Flash a sly grin on his face.

* * *

 **Happy Harbour, Sunday, July 18th, 2010:**

Kid Flash and Robin use the zeta beams to enter the cave, Aqualad and Daredevil had already arrived before hand. Everyone was in their civilian attire, Matt wearing his red tinted glasses a long sleeved black shirt and black cargo pants. Aqualad was looking at a holographic screen. "Is he here?" Kid Flash asks, Aqualad nods. "He will arrive any moment." Robin puts his arms in the air in excitement, "Then what are we waiting for?" He asks before running off out of the cave, with Kid Flash. Aqualad and Daredevil give each other expectant looks and calmly follow their teammates. Superboy just shrugs and unfolds his arms as he unenthusiastically follows suit, Ms. Martian gives a small smile and telekinetically hovers behind the clone.

The teenagers exit the bay doors of the mountain and look up, their clothes and hair flutter against strong winds. Red Tornado was making his entrance, the red twister elevating him dissipates as he made his way to the ground. The large android looks at the young heroes and says, "Greetings. Is there a reason you have intercepted me outside the cave?"

"We had hoped that you had a mission for us," Aqualad told the android. The large android simply replied, "Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibly." The team looks disappointed, Red Tornado's plain, robotic cadence didn't help matters.

Robin began to speak "But it's been over a week and…" a metallic red hand was held up, indicting for him to stop. "You will be tested soon enough. But for the meantime, simply enjoy each others company," the android instructed.

Aqualad crosses his arms, "This team is not a social club," he said, some annoyance in his voice. Kid Flash, Robin and Daredevil had irritation written on their faces as well.

"No. But I am told that social interaction is an important team building exercise. You can keep busy by familiarizing yourselves with each other and the cave." He walks past the disappointed teens and Matt tries to ignore the whirs and clanks that Red Tornado made with every step.

Kid Flash lightly hits Robin on the shoulder, "Keep busy?" He asks in an annoyed tone, recalling their interaction with Speedy the night before. "Does he think we're falling for that?" Robin asks in disbelief.

Miss Martian perked up upon hearing that, "Oh, I'll find out," she said focusing on Red Tornado. Matt was about to point out that it was just an expression when she gave a disappointed sigh. "I-I'm sorry, I forgot he's a machine. Inorganic. Can't read his mind," she says in an apologetic tone.

"Nice try though," Kid Flash said eagerly, leaning a bit too close to the Martian. "You uhhh, know what I'm thinking about right now?" he asks in a suggestive manner. Matt shakes his head at his ally's lack of subtlety. Robin elbowed the speedster, "We all know what you're thinking right now," he says in a disapproving tone. Matt pulled Kid Flash slowly away from Miss Martian with a strong grip, making the speedster gulp audibly.

Wanting to alleviate the tense atmosphere Miss Martian suggests that she and Superboy give the teammates a tour of the cave. The clone denies the job saying he wasn't a tour guide.

Matt instinctively reached for his cane but let out a small laugh as he remembers that he didn't bring it. Secret identities and all.

The teenagers enter the cave and Aqualad casts a disappointed gaze, "Now we tour the club house."

* * *

Matt had already analysed the layout of the cave when he first arrived over a week ago, so whilst Miss Martian gave everyone a tour he spent that time familiarizing himself with the physiology of his super powered allies. Aqualad's heart rate was lower than a normal persons, and he breathed through his gills along with his lungs. Kid Flash was the opposite, his resting heart rate sounded like a stampede, his metabolism would have to be extremely fast.

Superboy, well, Matt could only describe it as booming. His beats per minute were almost the same as a normal persons but it was much louder, like someone was beating a war drum every time his heart beat. Miss Martian's physiology was the most odd. Due to the nature of her shape shifting, she essentially morphed herself to mimic a human. Her internal organs and bodily functions all functioned almost like a normal teenage girls, baring the green skin Matt couldn't see. But something felt off to Matt, like she was straining herself slightly to maintain her form.

The blind hero was snapped out of his extrasensory trance when he smelt burning. Sniffing the air and hearing the sizzling of dough he addressed the team. "Eight-wait, Nine cookies are being burned in the second oven in the kitchen," he says pointing to the direction of the culinary disaster without looking.

Miss Martian gasps, "My cookies," she says out loud as she floats to where the kitchen was. Robin looks at Matt and smirks, "If the hero thing doesn't pan out, at least we know you could make it big on masterchef." Kid Flash laughs at the comment but Superboy and Aqualad are left blank, not understanding the reference.

The oven opens telekinetically along with the tray of charcoal like remains of the cookies. "Oh, there ruined. I tried to follow the recipe from episode four of...oh, never mind. Now they're ruined," Miss Martian says absent mindedly.

"Nah, they're fine babe," Kid Flash says shoving down as many of the burnt slabs as he could. With a full mouth, he looks at his teammates, "What? I've got a fast metabolism," he says as he quickly gulps the burnt food.

Aqualad addresses the Martian, "It was sweet of you too make any," he says with genuine gratitude. She has a shy look on her face and holds her hands together in front of her. "Thanks, Aqualad," she says.

The Atlantean raises a hand, "We are off duty. Call me Kaldur'Ahm. But my friends call me Kaldur." After a large and final crunch, Kid Flash speaks up, "I'm Wally. See, I already trust you with my secret ID. Unlike Mr dark sunglasses over there. See, Batman's forbidden Boy wonder over there from telling anyone his real name," he says gesturing to the young acrobat, making a small frown form on Robin's head.

Wally then points to Matt, "Devil boy over there... I actually have no idea why he's being so secretive. My guess is that he's just got trust issues," he says, whispering the last few words. Matt opens his hands, "Hey…ok, that last part's true. But that's not the reason. Last time we met, you guys got owned by some weird telepathic gnomes. I really don't want my personal details compromised and given to a bad guy if you guys get beat by a telepath again. No offense Miss. M. I'm-um guessing you have an actual name?" Matt asked awkwardly. Miss Martian waved her hands to indicate that she wasn't offended.

"My name is no secret. It's M'gann M'orzz. But you all can call me Megan," she said. "It's an earth name. Because I'm on earth," she says, hardly believing that fact. Matt smiles, witnessing her child like enthusiasm.

As Superboy started to walk away, Megan turned her attention to the clone. She gave him a friendly smile but he suddenly stopped and turned around with an angry look on his face. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he demanded. Everyone stared at him, then at M'gann.

"What's wrong? I-I don't understand, everyone on Mars communicates telepathically," she says in everyone's minds. Matt clutches his head in pain, feeling his psychic defenses being broken down. Suddenly everyone's minds become connected and they experience something together.

Everything. Every sound, every bit of fabric scraping against skin, every ant crawling on every blade of grass, every heartbeat, every growling stomach. They smell the food from every breath, feel the particles of pollution in the air, radio and infrared waves. Vibrations in the ground. The pain of too many unhealed wounds. They feel all this for but a few moments, but it felt like hours to them.

They all collapse on the floor, clutching their heads in pain. Matt's nose was bleeding. "Is-is everyone alright?" he asks, his voice muffled by his hand on his nose. Wally was the first to get up, his physiology making him the fastest to recover. "What was that?" He asks M'gann in a groggy state.

Matt steps in front of her before she says anything. "Th-that was my fault guys. Part of my training when dealing with psychics when I've got no gear. Resist the attack, break down the barriers and let them have a taste of my enhanced senses," he explains with baited breath.

"That was just a taste?!" Robin asks incredulously, not able to believe someone could survive that experience on a daily basis. Matt shrugs, checking to see if Miss Martian was ok. Aqualad addresses her, "M'gann, unlike Mars, your telepathic abilities are a gross violation of people's privacy on this world. Clearly in more ways that one," he says looking at Matt.

Superboy's head was still ringing, his already enhanced senses weren't accustomed to being further enhanced telepathically. Wally tells the Martian that the clone wasn't too keen on telepathic probing, considering his experiences with the G-Gnomes at CADMUS.

"I-I didn't mean to…" she began but was cut off.

"Just. Stay. Out," the clone violently spat out as he made his way to the sofa in a fit.

The remaining five removed ice packs from the freezer and nurse their lifetime worth of headaches. Matt felt his senses being experienced by five others. Not something that happened everyday. Kaldur places a hand on Matt's shoulder, "It cannot be easy. Feeling all of that…noise. All at once. In every moment." Matt gave the Atlantean a benign look, "Dude, you have no idea." He sighed, thankful that no one figured out that he was blind despite sharing his mind for a few moments.

Matt felt guilty, he knew how painful his abilities were when he first got them. He didn't want his friends going through that hell. Even for a few seconds.

After the group remained idle for a few minutes, M'gann slaps herself on the forehead. "Hello, Megan! I know what we can do," she says before lifting off of the ground and flying to the hanger. Matt, ice pack still in hand tilts his head towards his teammates, Robin shrugged and they follow the Martian. After some gentle urging by M'gann, verbally of course, even Superboy agreed to follow.

* * *

A few minutes later they were at the hanger. The elevator doors opened and before the teens was a large, red, oval shaped object. "It's my Martian bioship," she said proudly as they walked towards it.

Wally spoke up first, "Cute. It's not aerodynamic but cute," he said doubtfully. M'gann smiled, "It's at rest silly. I'll wake her," she said placing her hand on it. The sides of the orb stretched out into wings that touched the ground and two beaks formed in front of it. The ship did a full 180 before stopping, all whilst hovering above the ground. The back of the ship morphed to form a ramp. "So, are you coming?" She asked.

The boys, with some trepidation, took a step into the ship. As they entered the ship the wall that separated the the bay from the cockpit had slid up, and six seats formed from the floor. As they took their seats, straps in the shape of an 'X' went over their chests.

Matt didn't like being inside the ship at all, he felt like Jonah inside a whale. He could tell that the bioship was alive and the organic belt buckles on his chest along with the seat he sat in made the blind hero uncomfortable. Plus he had to fly inside this thing. 'Please don't eat me. Please don't eat me,' Matt repeated in his head.

M'gann requested permission from Red Tornado to open the bay doors and the Bioship zoomed into the air. "Incredible," Robin said, looking at the ground below.

"She sure is… The ship I mean. Like all ships she's a she," Wally said, looking away from M'gann, trying to recover from his statement.

Robin grinned, "Fast on his feet, not so much with his mouth."

"Dude," Wally exclaimed.

Matt elected to ignore the stomach like rumbling - that only he could hear - of the ship and decided to listen in on his friends' conversations. He hears Kaldur talking to Superboy. "I may not have psychic powers, but I know what you're thinking. You overreacted and don't know how to apologise. Just say you're sorry," Kaldur advises the clone in a hushed tone, a friendly smile on his face. Superboy takes a small glance at M'gann and silently turns his head back to face the front of the ship.

"He isn't the only one who needs to apologize," Matt whispers to Kaldur. He turns his head around to make it easier to address the whole team. "Sorry about earlier guys. I shouldn't have let down my mental barriers when M'gann mind-melded with us. It's pretty much an instinct. None of you deserved to feel any of that," he says, bowing his head down in shame.

M'gann smiled at Matt. "There's nothing to forgive. I'm still not used to reading non-telepathic minds, I have to take better care in the future," she said trying to take the blame from Matt. The two exchange looks and it was clear that all was well between them. The rest of the team joined in, saying that the two shouldn't feel so guilty for what was essentially an accident. Superboy just gave a slightly less disgruntled grunt.

"He'll come around," Robin told M'gann, referring to the clone. "He doesn't seem to like me much," M'gann said looking at Superboy. Wally raises his arm to cover his mouth, "You guys do realise that he has super hearing, right?" The three look at Superboy, his expression not changing.

Wanting to change the subject Robin asked M'gann if she could show off her shape shifting powers. Her shy expression turned into one of slight confidence as she got out of the pilot seat. She put her hands on her hips and her body slowly morphs. Her legs start first, the shoes, white socks and pink skirt replaced by a crimson red, tactical pants and boots. Her torso also becomes covered in the same colour, with a 'DD' becoming emblazoned on her chest. She gains a few inches and a mask forms over her head, with two small horns protruding on the top.

Matt was very confused, her heartbeat and breathing changed. While still not quite human it still sounded familiar. He could perceive the outline of the devil horns with his radar sense as well as an overdeveloped chest.

"Is that meant to be me?" Matt asked. M'gann, in the guise of a female version of Daredevil, smiled and twirled around morphing into a female version of Kid Flash, with the transformation being slightly faster than the last time. "Is it wrong that I think I'm hot," Kid Flash says, his arm supporting his head as he admires the figure of his female self.

"Impressive" Robin said clapping, ignoring Wally's comment. "Though you're not gonna fool anyone with those." M'gann sat back down, "Mimicking boys is alot harder," she said meekly. "And your clothes?" Kaldur asked. M'gann grabbed her jumper, "All organic. Just like the rest of me and the ship."

Matt put his hand on his stomach, "Don't remind me. I had to spend weeks in the south pole using a dead polar bear for warmth. Being in this...thing just feels so wrong," he says, trying not to feel nauseous. "Why were you at the South Pole?" Wally asked.

"The asshole who trained me put me there for a month. Then the Sahara for another month, oh yeah, and the Amazon rainforest in the next. That was a really bad summer," Matt said as he used his finger to trace the scars that he had received from various animals during that time. "Still, better than that time I had to jump off of a cliff with no rope. Spent a month recovering from a broken back, that was really boring."

Wally just stared at Matt, "Wait, wait, wait. How'd you heal something like that in a month?" Matt smirked at the speedster, "Meditation mostly. That and me wanting to get off my back as soon as possible to kick my mentors ass." Matt failed to mention that after two hours of violent fist fighting, he peed his pants, due to lack of bladder control after being bedridden for so long and Kato had to help clean him up. They drank copious amounts of booze to try and forget that little blunder, but they just ended up walking down the mountain and fought local drunks at a village and ended up in a Tibetan prison for a day. They escaped, still hungover.

Matt smiles as he remembers that day. But his walk down memory lane was interrupted by an alert from Red Tornado. "Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbour power plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I am sending the coordinates."

M'gann put he ship in stealth mode and adjusted the ships course. Robin spoke up, "He's just keeping us busy again."

She simply shrugged, "A simple fire led you to Superboy. We should find out what caused the alert," she said as the ship made its way to the powerplant, circled over it in stealth mode. The power plant was a simple building. Three smoke stacks at the anterior and a rectangular building at the posterior.

"I think thats the cause," Matt said, tilting his head towards the window. Superboy was the first to see what he was referring too. A gigantic tornado, tearing across the parking lot. M'gann put all her mental effort to steer the ship away from the twister but after flying a few dozen feet away from it, they were pulled into the storm. Everyone rocked in their seats as they felt the momentum of the storm.

M'gann matches the velocity of the tornado and travels along its direction, breaking free from its grasp. She lands the ship in the parking lot, the bottom half of the ship splits open and forms a ramp to let the shaken teens exit.

They see a tornado go across the side of the factory. "Are tornadoes common in New England? Robin?" Kaldur asked but turned around to see that the Boy Wonder had disappeared. They hear his cackling echo of a laugh near the building.

"I am going to tie a chain around his neck," Matt said irritably as they made there way to the entrance of the factory. They stopped as the sound of glass shattering entered their ears, they see that the windows of the building were blown out by gusts of air. They increased the pace to the factory and are greeted to the sight of Robin being propelled into a large pillar, the young hero falling hard onto the ground.

Superboy leapt towards him. "Who's your new friend?" he asks seeing the bad guy. He was large, with a red body and black going down his chest, around his arms and feet, as well as a black line going down his face, behind his shining blue eyes. He stood at over ten feet tall and his robotic body shined in the sunlight. He had large blue tubes behind his back, which were connected to two cannons on the bottom of his wrists.

The clone lunges at the robotic menace. "My apologies. You may address me as Mr. Twister," he said, raising his hand and launching two mini tornados at Superboy. He initially powered through them, slowly making his way to Mr. Twister. The android simply increased the power of the tornado and sent to clone flying across the room.

Kid Flash, Aqualad and Ms. Martian see Superboy fall to the ground. Wally took out his goggles and put them on. Aqualad nodded to the two and they rushed the villain, Robin getting up and following suit. Wally gained momentum with his superspeed and leaped forward, trying to land his feet against twisters chest.

The robot put his hands forward and formed a funnel of air trapping the speedster, launching him out onto the field behind the factory. Seeing Aqualad and Ms. Martian almost reach him he generates a tornado and sends them both to were Superboy lay, Aqualad cracked a pillar during his descent.

Robin slowly reaches for behind his hoodie and pulls out some explosive disks. He throws them at the android. One glances off of Mr. Twisters shoulder and the other baerly embeds itself into his chest. "I was preparing myself to be facing a superhero. I was not, however, expecting to face children."

"We're not children," Robin says. The android flicks the disk away from his chest before it blew up, "Objectively you are," he said.

He hears something climb onto the back of his chassis. Matt grabs one of the tubes on his back, "I can feel the air pumping through these things, lets see how you make tornados without them," the blind hero says, pulling on the tubes with all his might but they weren't budging. Mr. Twister gives a patronizing chuckle as he puts his hand inches away from Matt's face and generates a blast of air, propelling Matt into a wall behind him. His ears ring and he feels dizzy, his sense of equilibrium was scrambled.

"You snuck up on me. Not bad, but did you honestly think you of all people were strong enough to damage apparatus that can generate building destroying vortexes?" he asks rhetorically. "Have you no adult supervision. I find your presence. Disturbing," he says addressing the team.

Robin yelled at the android, "Well, we wouldn't want you to be disturbed. Let's see if you're more turbed once we kick your can." Ms. Marian raised her arms and ripped a steam vent over the android's head. Superboy lept into the air towards twister.

The robot created an updraft, making the clone slam into a metal support beam on the roof and fall on Ms. Martian. Aqualad and Robin circled Mr. Twister and Matt tried to get behind him. "Won't fall for that twice," The android said as he spun the three like a top and slammed them into each other.

"Indeed. That was quite turbing," Twister said as he formed a tornado below him, carrying him out the back of the factory, sucking Wally up with him unintentionally. Releasing this he changes direction slightly and flings Wally away.

Ms. Martian floated behind him and raised her hand, stopping the speedster in mid-air. "I got you Wally," she said, letting him drop to the ground.

Hovering high in the air Twister addressed the teens, "I would have thought you had all learned your limitations by now," he says taunting them. "What do you want?!" Aqualad demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero," he explained.

Aqualad turns to M'gann. "Read his mind. Find a weakness," he ordered. Her eyes widen and she looks at the Atlantean, confused. "I thought I wasn't supposed to do that?" she asked. Robin shouts out, saying it was ok to mind read the bad guys. Her eyes glow a bright green and her brow was creased, her mind completely focusing on Mr. Twister. "Nothing. I'm getting nothing," she says, confused. A sudden realisation comes to her head, she slaps her head with her palm, "Hello Megan! Mr. Twister is Red Tornado in disguise. He's inorganic, an android. And how many androids do you know that can generate tornados?"

"Red Tornado sent us here," Aqualad added. Robin continued, "And he said that we'd be tested soon. Something to keep us busy," he added bitterly.

Matt turned to face the three with utter shock on his face. "What the hell are you guys talking about? He's nothing like Red Tornado!"

Ms. Martian was about to respond but Matt raised his hand, "The metal on his body feels different than Red's, his internal mechanisms sound completely different. This guy shoots tornados from those things under his arms while Red Tornado just spins his limbs around really fast. And, this is the important part, this guy seems to enjoy kicking our asses while Tornado has the emotional range of a teaspoon. He's not Red Tornado!"

Dark clouds and lightning crackled behind Twister, "Um, I don't think Red Tornado can do that!" Wally said as they all cautiously took a few steps back.

"You think I'm Tornado? How ironic," Mr. Twister said as a large bolt of lighting struck his body, Twister aimed his arms at the team and the electricity tore its way to the ground. Blowing them all away.

Everyone was knocked out, but someone got out of the dirt. Superboy tore the remains of his jacket away and launched himself at Twister who summoned another bolt of lightning and redirected it towards Superboy, hitting the clone square in the chest. The Kryptonian fell straight into the ground, earth surrounding him with steam coming off of his body due to the heat. Even he was down for the count.

Twister lowered himself towards the team, electricity crackling in his hands. He was about to aim another bolt of lightning at the teens when they suddenly disappeared from sight. "Fine, I will admit you children have power. But playing hide and seek with you will not help me achieve my objective. So stay concealed. If you confront me again, I will show. No. Mercy," Twister said, threatening the team, his hand forming an electricity generating fist.

As he left the team woke up. Wally asked what happened. "I placed the bioship between us and Twister." Superboy shattered some nearby rocks in rage. "And that's supposed to make it right? You tricked us into believing that Twister was Red Tornado!" he said pointing to the others.

Matt placed his hand on the clones shoulders, "It was a rookie mistake. She'll learn from it. But right now we need to focus on stopping that thing from destroying the Harbour and moving on to the city. Robin, call the League, tell them to bring in some heavy hitters. The rest of us need to stall Twister as long as possible."

Wally sighed and looked at Ms. Martian, "Look, you're a little inexperienced. Go hit the showers, we got this," he said. Matt didn't disagree, she was well intentioned but might get in the way of the more experienced members.

Matt turned and ran in the direction of Twister, the others alongside him.

* * *

"Ok, the tubes are an obvious weak spot. Any other things we can exploit?" Matt asked as the team made there way through the forest. "He's got the basic body structure of a human being, his joints should be vulnerable," Robin suggested.

"His eyes as well, he still requires visual aid to function," Aqualad said. Matt nodded his head but then groaned in frustration as he realised something. "He can probably detect things moving in the air too, that's why I couldn't sneak up on him the second time," the blind teen said, relating one of his abilities to Twisters.

"Alright, how do we attack him?" Wally asked. Seeing as though they were all in the open, Robin suggested that they should probably attack simultaneously. Matt nodded, "Ok, Robin and I will be the annoying distractions, throwing things at him and taunting him. Wally, disorientate him with your speed, make sure whenever you run, his focus should be entirely on you. The three of us need to confuse him, keep him off balance."

"Superboy and I will have to attack when his attention is diverted, it is unlikely that he can withstand a direct barrage from the two of us," Aqualad added. "Besides, even if the five of us cannot inflict any meaningful damage, we must continue to ensure that the fight only involves us and not the civilians," the Atlantean said, reinforcing Matt's previous statement.

Matt smiled, "Robin you contacted the League right?" The boy wonder nodded. "Ok boys, let's get to work."

* * *

Fifteen minutes of fighting and the team have failed to land a single blow on Twister. Any projectiles thrown a him are detected and blocked by an air funnel. Any attempts at distracting him from the ground would result in the guilty party being swept away by a tornado. Whenever Superboy leaps up to try and take Twister down to the ground the android simply swept him away with another tornado.

Right now Robin and Matt were taking cover, trying to think up a new strategy. Wally joins them having saved Kaldur from getting squashed by a tree moments ago, said tree was being hurled at Twister by Superboy. The android stops it and propels it into the clone, destroying some nearby beach houses in the process.

Wally and Matt notice that Robin slipped his utility belt from his sleeve and wore it over his shoulder. He removes a couple of batons and pass them to Daredevil. "You brought your utility belt?" Matt asked in disbelief.

"Never leave the cave without it. First, thing Batman taught me!" Robin said proudly.

Matt shakes his head, "When the hell are the League showing up?" he asks Robin. "Volcanic eruption in Hawaii, every member of the league that isn't off world are over there, rescuing the victims," the acrobat responds with a solemn tone.

"What about Red Tornado?" Wally asks. Robin shrugs, "He's not responding."

The situation seemed to be getting more dire by the minute. "Damn, anyone have any ideas?" Matt asked.

Daredevil felt a ringing in his head but he refused to let his barriers give in, he remembered what happened last time he did.

'Listen to me, all of you,' Ms. Martians voice rang in their heads. They put their hands on their heads due to the discomfort. Superboy had an angry expression on his face, "What did we tell you?!" he shouted out.

'I know. And I know I messed up, but I'm very clear on what needs to be done next. Please trust me,' she said confidently.

Robin looks at Matt, "You wanted ideas. Can't hurt to hear her out," he said.

* * *

After explaining the plan, the five rush towards Twister but stop as Red Tornado floated down from above. "Hit the showers boys. I was hoping you could handle this alone. Clearly, you cannot," Red Tornado said.

"But we have a plan now!" Robin said adamantly.

"This subject is not for debate," he said simply. The groups leaves disgruntled. The two androids exchange pleasantries and start launching tornados at each other. With each tornado, cancelling out the other.

"Clearly we are evenly matched," Red Tornado said generating a tornado behind him, lifting multiple rocks from the ground and launched them at Mr. Twister at high speed. "No Tornado, we are not!" he says, slamming his fist into the ground, a large gush of air exiting it, stopping the rocks from hitting him.

Mr. Twister generates lightning from his fists and launches it at Red Tornado who attempts to move out of the way but the powerful attack glanced his chest, sending him to the ground. Twister pulls his fingers back to reveal wires that attach to Red Tornados head.

Suddenly Red Tornado grabs the wires and pulls them away from his head. His head morphs to reveal M'ganns. She uses her telekinesis to blast him into a tornado Wally formed by spinning in a circle.

Tornado was flung towards Superboy who locked his arms around Twister's and punched a hole through him before he punched him into the water were Aqualad was in position. Kaldur slammed a rusty anchor into the evil android before generating and electrical current from his ceremonial tattoos into the Twister via the anchor.

This blows him up onto shore, destroying his left arm. M'gann lifted him up in the air as Robin threw some disks at his chest which explode. Matt throws one of the batons he borrowed from Robin into the now gaping hole in Twister's chest, hitting his central power source.

The android fell down like a lump of coal onto the ground. The team circle in on him as he got to his knees. But much to their surprise his entire torso opened up and out came a skinny man in a unitard. "Foul! I-I call foul!"

Matt was making his way towards the 'man' but stopped as he heard a large rock crush his target. "M'gann, no!" Aqualad shouted out. Robin stormed angrily at the martian. "I don't know how they do it on Mars, but on Earth? We don't execute prisoners!" he yelled angrily.

"How's crushing a lump of metal and rubber an execution?" Matt asks in genuine confusion as M'gann lifts the rock telekinetically. The man was not a man but another, smaller robot.

Wally picked up one of it's synthetic eyeballs. "Cool, souvenir." Before he could examine it more closely Matt grabbed it from his hand and crushed it as well as the other eye. The speedster looks at Matt with his arms crossed. "That was for last night wasn't it?"

The blind hero just smiled, "Yep."

* * *

"This thing was clearly made to fight you. But when it thought it beat M'gann, it tried to do something to her. Like...upload a virus or something," Kaldur told Red Tornado who was looking at the remains of both Mr. Twister and his artificial pilot.

"Agreed," Red Tornado said. The android informed the league of what had transpired so they didn't have to exhaust themselves coming to the cave after their mission in Hawaii.

"Is that why you didn't help us?" M'gann asked Red Tornado. "No. This was your battle. I do not believe that I should solve your problems for you. Or that you should solve mine." This statement made the rest of the team stop analysing the robotic remains and stare at Red Tornado, unable to believe what he was saying.

"But if you're in danger..." M'gann continued but was interrupted by Red Tornado. "Consider this matter closed." The android turned his back to the team and made his way to the corridors. Robin made a comment about him being a heartless machine.

Red Tornado, despite being over a dozen feet away responded saying that, "That is inaccurate. I do have a heart. Carbon- Steel alloy. And I also possess excellent hearing." Robin awkwardly apologizes, stating that he'd strive to be more accurate. "And more respectful," Aqualad added, putting his arm over the younger hero.

Matt, Kaldur, Dick and Wally make their way to the Zeta tubes. "Speedy was wrong," the speedster said. "This team thing," Robin continued. "Could actually work," Aqualad finished. "Speaking of teams, I'd love it if you guys would help me take out a Bertinelli guns storage facility. I have a few ideas on how we could use each others skills to finish the job. And before you ask, you still owe me," Matt said with a large grin.

Robin perked up, "I have no plans tonight." Aqualad looked at his comrade, "Neither have I." Wally sighed, but then smiled, "Yeah, I'll show the Devil of Hell's Kitchen how a real hero does the job."

"Last time you came into my city without asking you blew a massive operation that took weeks to pull off," Matt said snidely. "Detail, details. I listen to you today if that makes you feel better," Wally said.

The four keep bickering as they Zeta to New York.

Superboy was about to go to his room till he received a text. He opens his phone to read it.

'A HAWAIIAN RESTAURANT OWNER GAVE ME A WEEKS WORTH OF FOOD. CAN'T EAT ON MY OWN. WANNA COME OVER AND HELP? - DAD'

The clone smiles, he may no be able to live with his father but at least he tries to spend time with him. Before he leaves for Metropolis he looks at M'gann. 'What would Superman do?' he thinks to himself.

He looks straight into her eyes and says, "Sorry," very quietly and leaves. M'gann, seeing this, smiles in joy.

* * *

 **My back. Wow, it hurts so much. I should probably invest in a higher table.**

 **Anyway, it's been a while. But now my exams are over I can try and upload more frequently. I'll upload one maybe two chapters before the year is out.**

 **Alright, comments:**

 **PandakaiLove:**

 **Good job another great chapter! I've read what you've said so I guess the next chapter you're going to do more young justice right? btw will Matt's teacher (I forgot his name, the one that was blind btu from DC) appear someday? will the hand only appear when Matt is in hell's kitchen or will the team meet them as well? Can't wait for the next chapter!**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for the response man. Yep, next chapter is going to be episode 4. I am really looking forward to writing that one. Kato is going to appear again, if everything goes to plan. I'm planning to keep the hand stuff solely in Hell's Kitchen, namely because it would confuse the hell out of me if I didn't. YJ already had the League of Shadows, another ninja clan wouldn't add anything to those stories.**

 **1jesus** **:**

 **Awesome work man.**

 **Me** **:**

 **Thank's Jesus. Poor Matt's going to be having problems understanding why you let him suffer this much. Give him a break Jesus. (Btw Just joking). Thanks for the response**

 **Justaguest** **:**

 **Since you got into Daredevil through the netflix series, are you planning on Nobu v Matt? I figure that won't be for a while, but 'I feel it coming'.**

 **I do enjoy the smaller stakes Daredevil is used to, as well as slowly building up confidants and allies outside of Young Justice. Please keep it up.**

 **Whose the love interest? Natasha? Electra? Milla Donovan? Didn't he have a fling with Black Cat for a while? then again there are too many cat people in dc**

 **Justaguest**

 **Me** **:**

 **I already made Matt fight Nobu last chapter but I assume you mean a fight were they both get absolutely recked. Yep, that's coming.**

 **In regards to the love interest, well you're just going to have to wait and see.**

 **Thanks for the response man.**

 **Guest** **:**

 **I love this story, love where this story is going and I can't wait to see what's about to come next. I'm sorry for asking but if you like the show called Gotham can you also make a crossover with Daredevil? It can just take place after Daredevil season 3 because that was my favorite show too and Matt Murdock moves into Gotham and still becomes a lawyer there and he meets up with an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time Jim Gordon, you can say that they were friends since they were kids. Matt lives in a nice apartment and gets settled in and when he sees that there's trouble in Gotham he will put his suit that he got back from his nemesis Bullseye and brings the criminals to justice. People will also start wondering who the guy in a red devil costume is and some will see him as a hero but there will be cops and crime bosses after him. He will also see that Bullseye is back and he is more stronger and more dangerous as ever, he's here because he found that Daredevil is in Gotham now so he will not stop until he finds him, he's also a assassin for hire now so he may work with Fish or Penguin. Matt aka Daredevil will become the symbol of hope in Gotham and he will protect the city from those who tries to terrorize it no matter how strong they are. He may also gets from help from his hero friends like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist if you want them to be apart of it and the story can start in season 1 or 2 of Gotham.**

 **Pair: Matt/Daredevil x Tigress (maybe)**

 **Title: The Devil of Gotham (maybe)**

 **\- it's just an idea you don't really have to do it, I like watching those Marvel series on Netflix and Daredevil was my favorite and I also like Gotham.**

 **Me** **:**

 **Thanks for responding. Unfortunately, I don't watch Gotham, nor do I have the time to write two stories simultaneously.**

 **But if you have the idea in your head, I think you should go for it and write it yourself. It'll be a great experience.**

 **It'll be hard at first since no one will read the story for the first few months, but once you get the comments flowing in, you won't want to stop.**

 **Try it out. It might prove to be a cool experience.**

 **That's it for the comments.**

 **Thanks so much for reading the story so far. Let me know what you thought of the chapter, feedback, both negative and positive will be much appreciated.**

 **Next chapter: Season 1, Episode 4: Drop Zone.**

 **Before I finish talking about the chapter I must mention the tragic passing of Stan Lee two weeks ago (in relation to when I'm releasing this chapter.)**

 **He was responsible for the creation of so many beloved characters that have brightened the lives of millions of people. He was the one who made superheroes more grounded and human. From what I've seen he seems to have been a great guy.**

 **The most successful film franchise exists because of him and he's changed pop culture forever.**

 **So thanks Stan. I'll miss you.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Drop Zone:**

 **The Caribbean Sea, June 22nd, 2010:**

'I'm never going to get used to this,' Matt thought to himself as he tugged on the organic belt buckle that was wrapped around his chest for the seventh time in twenty minutes. Everything in the bioship was organic, as M'gann liked reminding everyone whenever someone refers to the ship as an 'it.' Matt always felt uncomfortable being inside the bioship, being constantly aware of your surroundings and subsequently being engulfed in a flying creature would make most people with his abilities nervous.

Matt tried focusing on something else, anything, as long as it distracted him from the ship. He focused on Wally first but immediately was repelled when he tasted traces of expired potato chips that the speedster ate hours earlier. M'gann was busy communicating with the bioship, Matt could practically feel her nervous system essentially flicker whenever she made any minor adjustments to their course of travel.

Kaldur was staring intently at the ocean below, he was preparing himself mentally for his upcoming task, his heart rate and breathing were normal by his standards and Matt quickly grew bored focusing on him. The blind teenager never even bothered checking Superboy, he had two modes. Stoic and somewhat apathetic or angry.

Matt heard Robin's facial muscles contort into what he assumed was a large smile. He could infer what the young acrobat was thinking about.

Earlier Batman had briefed the team regarding the island of Santa Prisca. Its the source of a strength enhancing drug called venom. The island has not supplied the drug to the outside world for a long time but satellite scans show that the venom factories were fully operational. The team was to find out why.

A recon mission. Batman marked two drop zones. Aqualad would enter the island by sea and shut down the heat and motion sensors on the shore and the rest where to enter further inland at the second drop zone.

When Robin asked who would lead the team Batman and Red Tornado gave each other an awkward look and asked them to "Sort it out amongst yourselves."

Matt wasn't surprised that Robin would be happy thinking about that, Batman was the unofficial leader of the Justice League. Makes sense for his partner to have similar ambitions.

His train of thought was interrupted by M'gann and he was brought back to the real world. "Drop zone: A in thirty," the martian said. Aqualad got up from his seat and pressed the logo on his belt and the red from the top of his costume morphed into a dull grey.

"Ready," Aqualad told Miss Martian. She put the bioship into camouflage mode, making it virtually invisible to the naked eye. A small port opened up in the bottom of the ship and Aqualad jumped through it into the ocean below, his arms extended like an olympic diver.

The atlantean swam at great speed, overtaking the bioship. He cut an incoming metal net with a sword formed with his water bearers and swam past some sea mines. He emerged onto shore and was greeted by the control units for the sensors across the island. He removes a device that batman had given him from his belt and inserted it into the primary sensor, deactivating it.

"Heat and motion sensors are patched. They are on a continuous loop, move in," Aqualad calmy informed the team via their communicators.

The moment the bioship arrives at the second drop zone the rest of the team get up and their seats morph back into the ground, something that still creeped Matt out. Miss Martian put her hand out and closed her eyes, suddenly organic cables lowered in front of Robin, Daredevil and Kid Flash. The three secure the cables onto their belts so that they could lower themselves safely onto the ground. When one lowered to Superboy he brushed it aside.

Wally's costume received some improvements. He now had shoulder pads for additional protection and the second improvement was revealed when he touched the lightning bolt on his chest. The yellow and red of his costume were replaced by black and grey, and the lightning bolt was now a darker shade of red. Wally freaked out when he first got the new suit, he'd spent hours fawning over the materials used to allow a seamless change in colour for a friction resistant costume that could shrink into a tiny ring.

After admiring himself for a couple seconds the speedster turned to Miss Martian. "How cool is this?" he asked, trying to show off in front of her. "Very impressive," she replied curtly. She closed her eyes and then her legs, torso and arms were slowly covered in black, the 'X' on her chest became a shade darker and a hood formed on her cape.

"Uh, that works too," Wally said, averting his eyes from the form fitting costume Miss Martian shape shifted herself into. "Hey Supey. Not too late to put on the new stealth tech," Kid Flash told Superboy.

The clone crossed his arms, "No capes not tights and no offense," he responded firmly. "It totally works for you," Miss Martian said admiring the clone. When he looks at her, her expression changes, "In that you can do for work… In those clothes," she said giving him an awkward thumbs up and subsequently shielding her face with her hood and going invisible to escape the embarrassment and to hide her blushes.

Superboy seemed oblivious to her blatant attraction towards him. 'It would be a tragedy if those two don't end up together,' Matt thought wishfully, finding their dynamic somewhat adorable.

A hole formed in the bottom of the ship and the near-invisible Miss Martian slowly floats down telekinetically to the ground. Kid Flash, Robin and Daredevil lower themselves with the cables they attached to their belts. After removing them Matt heard something falling above them at great speed.

He pushed the rest of his teammates away and rolled forward to avoid it. A large boom was heard followed by a shockwave that sent the teenagers flying back a few feet. The source of the damage stood up. "Knew I didn't need a line," Superboy said in a cocky manner, looking at the crater he just made.

"And yet creating a seismic event doesn't exactly help with the covert," Robin told the clone in an irritated manner, having just been unintentionally launched into a tree by the Kryptonians actions. Matt helped Robin get up, "Relax, there's no one nearby who could have heard that. But you need to more careful when you stick the landing Superboy, you could have crushed us," Matt said, turning his attention to the clone.

Miss Martian contacted Aqualad using their comm link, "Drop Zone: B is a go," she informed him.

"Head to the location. I'll track your signal and rendevouz with you ASAP," the atlantean said, slightly out of breath as he was currently scaling a cliff. "Roger that," Robin said, showing everyone a holographic display of the rendezvous location. Luckily Matt had memorized the map before hand and could simply pretend to see the display.

The rest of the team head into the jungle, walking through some dense foliage. They find a pathway near a waterfall that spiraled down to the level of the forest that they wanted to reach. Miss Martian elected to telekinetically lift herself over the path whilst the boys walked along it.

Daredevil was in front of everyone since his abilities made him ideal to spot any incoming threats, plus the cool night breeze was something he quite enjoyed. Matt found it odd to find such a relatively smooth path in this part of the jungle. He then felt something further along the ground. He raised his arm in the air and formed a fist, indicating that everyone should stop.

"What is it?" Robin asked. "Mines, around twenty one at least, spread a hundred yards in front of us along the rest of the path. We should probably...Robin, where're you going?" Matt asked running and grabbing the young boys arm as he tried to sneak off. "Blending into the jungle, avoiding the mines. What? Weren't you guys following me?" Robin asked, not aware that the rest of the team weren't behind him.

Kid Flash looked at Robin with disbelief. "How the hell would we even know to do that? We're not mind readers you know." He then looks at Miss Martian and clears his throat, "Ok. I'm not anyway." Miss Martian looks at him with an innocent expression, "But you guys told me I could only listen to the bad guys minds."

Robin and Kid Flash bicker back and forth but Matt ignores it as the sound of twigs breaking against thick rubber soles entered his ears. "Shh...guys, hear that?" Matt asked. Superboy turns his head where Matt was and nods. "Sounds like footsteps," the clone says.

"What where? Oh wait, it's a super hearing thing isn't it?" Kid Flash says.

Matt frowns as he detects further details about the source of the footsteps. "Ten men, seven to the west and five to the east. Their about four hundred yards away from each other, they'll meet in another couple minutes. I can smell the gun oil and hear the bullets in the magazines. M16's judging by the rattling and outlines."

The team look at Matt with dumbfounded expressions, they're still not used to him doing things like this yet. "Superboy, Kid switch to infrared so you can see the men Daredevil just described," Aqualad instructed via the comms. Kid Flash puts on his infrared goggles and Superboy closes his eyes and concentrates, making them more sensitive to heat signatures.

The two see the men Matt was talking about and they all take cover. The two groups of men start shooting at each other, the sound of gunshots filling the air. "No super hearing required now," Wally says.

"Fall back, get to higher ground. We need to steer clear before they see us," Matt told the team, still holding onto Robin, fearing he'd disappear again, much to the boy wonders dismay. "Yeah, yeah, let me get a better view first," Kid Flash said running towards the fighting.

Before Matt could stop him he was already gone. He smacks himself in the head, "Why? Why does he have to such an impulsive son of a ...," Matt whined quietly, breathing out slowly, refraining from cursing Wally. Robin patted Matt's shoulders, understanding his frustration.

Kid Flash was about to take a right turn to circle around and away from the gun fight but he trips on a rock and tumbles down the path. The fighting stops as both parties see a muddy black blur roll into the centre of combat zone.

Wally spits out some mud and grass and awkwardly looks at the large, muscular man with a black and white luchador mask, who was pointing a gun at him. "So much for the stealthy," Wally muttered, not sure what to do next.

The men on both sides start firing at the speedster. He yells out rolling back and running away and dodging all the incoming fire. He takes cover behind a tree.

The luchador looking gunman stops firing when he hears the distinct sound of Superboy lunging at him. The clone wraps his arms around the man's torso and propels himself forward. The opposing large fighter uses the momentum to his advantage and rolls around. When they land Superboy was beneath him on the ground and the luchador gets his arm in a lock.

Superboy struggled for a few moments. Even with Super strength there's only so much an arm can move when in a lock, but fortunately for him a small movement was all that he needed. He hit the luchador in the face, sending him flying into a tree, knocking him out.

Kid Flash was drawing fire in the tree lines, two men were focused on him. So they didn't see two shadows emerge from the tree tops that subsequently disarmed and knocked them out. Robin and Daredevil dismantle the weapons and see Miss Martian slam a soldier into a tree with her telekinesis.

This gives Matt an idea. "Miss M, disarm the rest of the soldiers with your telekinesis," he says, with his hands forming a funnel to amplify the sound. She nods and turns invisible as she hovers upward and lifts her hands.

The guns tremble in the remaining soldiers hands and they look up in shock as their weapons float in mid-air. Kid Flash rushes three of them, Matt throws his billy club at one more and Robin aimed a Batarang at the last one fleeing the scene. But Aqualad jumped in front of that man, and touched his chest. The atlanteans tattoos glow a bright blue and a small bioelectric current passes through the man, knocking him out.

* * *

Robin, Aqualad and Daredevil tie up the men onto some trees. Robin takes a look at the costumes that one group of the men were wearing. Red, sleeveless hooded robes with a black, snake like mask attached to the hood. "I recognize those uniforms. They belong to the cult of the Kobra," Robin told the team.

"I am sure that Batman would have informed us if a dangerous cult was running Santa Prisca's venom operation," Aqualad said, arms crossed. "What about the other guys?" Matt asked. Robin looks at the other group they tied up. "They're dressed like generic Central American mercenaries. But there's clearly no love lost between these mercs and the cultists. I'm betting Kobra got in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines of Venom have been cut off."

Wally responds to Robin, "Ok, we get it. Kobra wanted roided out cultists, mystery solved. Radio bats and..." Robin cut him off, "But the cultists aren't on venom. They're hoarding this stuff. We don't leave. Not until I find out why."

The speedster is amused at his statement. "Until YOU know why?"

"This team needs a leader," Robin says.

"And it's you?" Wally asks pointing his finger at the younger hero. "Dude. You're a thirteen year old kid. Who tried to duck out on us without a word."

The two continue to bicker and trade insults. "Don't you want to lead?" M'gann asks Superboy. He raises his hand in aghast at the idea. "Pass. What about you?" he asks the martian. "After the whole Mr Twister fiasco. No thanks," she said, embarrassed by her mistake.

Superboy gives her a warm expression, "You did alright," he says kindly. She blushes at his compliment, which was somehow completely unnoticed by the clone.

Matt and Superboy turn their heads towards the luchador and his lieutenant hearing a whisper. "Look at them argue. Free yourself and take them while they are distracted," the lieutenant pleaded with his boss, whispering in Spanish. "Quiet. For now I play along. They'll give me what I want," the luchador replied in Spanish.

Superboy smirks upon hearing this, amused that he heard their secret conversation. But Matt just cracked his knuckles. "Stay alert. The big guy over there's planning something," he whispers to Aqualad. The atlantean simply nods in acknowledgement.

As Wally and Robin continue to argue the large, wrestler like man starts laughing. "Such clever ninos. But you only know half the story. Let me tell you the rest, and let you into my factory. Via my secret entrance," he told the team.

Miss Martian kneels down and places her hand on her temple. "There is a secret entrance but he's also hiding something." Her eyes glow green as she concentrates harder, trying to probe deeper into his mind.

"Nah, ah, ah chika. Bane isn't so easy," he says with a menacing grin. Miss Martian grunts in frustration, "He's mentally reciting 'football' scores. En espanol. This could take a while."

Matt removes a karambit, a curved, Israeli combat knife from his belt and hides it behind him. He was about to make his way towards Bane but Aqualad stops him. "What is it you think you are doing?" he asks Matt with extreme haste.

"He won't talk. He'll probably want us to team up, work together to find the cultists," Matt said. Aqualad crossed his arms, "That would be beneficial for us. His knowledge of the island and it's layout would be invaluable," the atlantean responded.

Matt glares at Aqualad, "You can't be this naive. He'll betray us the first chance he gets. Give me a few minutes alone with him. I'll make him sing like a canary." Matt was about to start walking towards Bane again but Aqualad extends his arm, blocking his path. "I understand where you are coming from. But we do not have to resort to torture to receive the information we require. Besides, like you, he has defences against telepaths. I am sure you only received mental defense training after you trained your body to resist physical pain. What if, after torturing him, he still refuses to give us answers? I doubt he would lead us to his secret entrance after that."

Daredevil reluctantly sheathes his weapon. "Stay alert," he says as Robin unties Bane. Matt gestures to Miss Martian, tapping the side of his head. He felt a familiar buzz in his head, luckily the lead in his helmet only works for major psychic penetration.

'Link the rest of us up. I have a plan.'

* * *

Bane led the teenagers into the forest. Superboy followed close behind in case he tried anything. All the while, Kid Flash and Robin kept antagonising each other.

After engaging in some casual conversation with Superboy and M'gann - which involved too many awkward silences - Matt spent about five minutes listening to Wally and Robin arguing. That was five minutes too long.

"Excuse me," Daredevil told Aqualad who was in front of him in a slightly irritated tone, walking past him.

"For God's sake guys, arguing like this isn't going to help anyone. We're on a mission. Table this discussion when we're back on the ship, cus if we get distracted, we could end up getting ourselves killed. Or worst, someone on the team." Matt said, slowly dissipating his anger the more he spoke.

"But he…" Wally began but Matt cut him off. "I don't care who started it. Stop arguing like kids and focus on the task at hand," Matt said, a little more calmly, glaring at the two.

Wally and Robin looked at each other and shrugged. They agreed with Matt and moved away from each other, not wanting to start another fight. Though they resorted to using the occasional foul hand gesture.

"They seem to respond more to your humane side. You might want to rely on that more if you want to lead this team," Aqualad told Matt. The blind teenager looked at him with confusion. "Who says I want to be leader."

The atlantean smiled at him. "You took lead at the drop zone. You stopped Robin from sneaking away. You had the idea mid combat to use Miss Martians telepathy on the mens guns and you were willing to take advice from one of your comrades when you made a wrong decision," Aqualad said.

Matt remained silent, not sure how to respond. "The team listens to you. They respond to you. You just need to dial back your anger and give clear instructions," Aqualad continued. "And most of all be firm but kind. These are your friends. Not the criminals you fight in Hell's Kitchen."

Matts interest in continuing the conversation ended when the sounds of forklifts lifting boxes, and dozens of armed troops entered his ears. "We're getting close," Matt says, walking next to Bane, his voice devoid of any doubt.

King Kobra looked down upon the supply of venom with a steely eye. The tall, albino man wanted to make sure that the preparations for his guest were perfect. One of his acolytes rushed towards him, out of breath. "Sir, he approaches."

"Activate the radio frequency jammers. Nothing must interfere," King Kobra said in a smooth voice.

His underling obliged, giving orders to those down below.

The tall albino looks at his cult. His army. His people. And was content. After all, when this transaction was done he was one step closer to Godhood.

Matt's head started aching and he let out a loud hiss. 'What's wrong?' M'gann asked via the psychic link. 'Not sure, radio waves are way more intense than before,' Matt responded mentally.

'Wait!' Robin thought on the link, pulling up his holographic display. 'Damn it, radio jammers are up. Our comms won't work.'

Wally smirked, 'Lucky we linked up before, right babe.' he said mentally, squinting at Miss Martian. 'You do realise all of us can hear you right?' Robin asked rhetorically via the link. The speedster shrugged, 'I don't care.'

'Guys focus, the factory's beyond that grove,' Matt said mentally pointing in front of him.

Bane looks at the teens gesturing at each other without talking and thinks that they'd lost their minds. "We are here," he says, pushing some leaves away revealing a large warehouse in the distance.

Robin crouches down, and takes out his binoculars from his utility belt and zooms in on the factory. Kid Flash does the same with his goggles. "Look at all that product. A buy is going down. But if Kobra isn't selling to the usual suspects..."Robin said, trailing off.

"We need to identify said buyer," Aqualad continued.

Kid Flash stood up and put his goggles on his forehead. "Just what I was thinking," the speedster said. "Yeah, you're the thinker," Robin said sarcastically. Wally put his hands on his hip, "Sarcasm. Really? A real leader would focus on getting answers."

Bane had left the group during this conversation and moved towards a large rock in front of a mound. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Superboy and Daredevil.

'Bane's walked in front of his entrance. I can sense a hollowed out cavern behind that rock.' Matt informed the team via the psychic link.

The large man groaned as he moved the large boulder aside. "After you," he said, his arms facing the entrance.

"Thanks," Matt replied sarcastically. 'Now,' Matt said mentally. Miss Martian raised Bane over a dozen feet above the ground, surprising the former drug kingpin. "Didn't think you ninos had it in you. To betray me like this."

Superboy stood below the luchador. He had a satisfactory smile on his face, "Want me to shut him up?" The whole team nods. "Finally. Drop him," he said, cocking his fist back. Miss Martian let her telepathic grip on Bane go, making him fall directly into Superboys punch. Knocking him out, for a long time.

* * *

They tie him up-again-and walk into the secret passageway, Matt leading the way, making sure there weren't any traps. It looked like an old mine shaft, filled with old lanterns, running on massive light bulbs. The support beams that prevented the roof from collapsing onto the ground ached and moaned with every step the team made. Matt half expected the whole thing to come crashing down on them but he refuses to think it out loud. No need to scare the troops.

They reach a large metal door, which Robin hacks. "Jeez, who uses this kind of security anymore?" he asked himself, disappointed by the lack of challenge. The moment he creaks the door open he attempts to run off and disappear. Matt goes after him.

Matt gently placed his hand on the boy wonders shoulder. "Look, Daredevil. No offense but I've been doing this way longer than all of you. I don't need you to babysit me," he said taking Matt's hand off of him.

"Dude, I know that. But I just need you to tell me where you're going. I can't keep track of everything going on around me if I'm wasting time scanning for you," Matt explained, trying to get Dick to talk. Robin let out an irritated sigh, "I'm going to the computer banks. I'll hack in and find out who these guys are shiping to."

"And..."Matt said. "And I'll report back what I see. Happy?" Dick asks rhetorically. Matt nods and Robin disappears by the time the rest of the team arrive. Wally was about to go after him but Matt places a firm hand on his shoulder. "Wally. I swear to God. If you run after him I will nail your feet to the ground with a sledgehammer," Matt said sternly making the speedster gulp audibly.

Matt then patted him on the shoulder, 'I'm kidding dude. But let Robin do his thing. Miss M can just let us see from his point of view if he needs our help I'D-ing something on the computer,' Matt said via the psychic link so that even Robin could hear. Wally let out a sigh of relief, Matt smiled, he just needed Wally to listen. The old good cop bad cop routine seemed to do the trick. 'Thanks Dad,' he thought to himself, away from the psychic link, remembering all the stories his father told him about his time interrogating witnesses.

Robin spots the computer room and crawls on the floor to avoid detection. He carefully aims a batarang and throws it next to the Kobra cultists using the computer. A green gas is emitted from the projectile, knocking the cultist out.

The young acrobat plugs into the system and scrolls through some files. 'Woah. Guys the shipments are being funneled to a single buyer and get this. They're modifying the venom with something else. Wally take a look at this,' Dick said mentally.

Miss Martian concentrated and connected Wally and Dick's minds even further, allowing the Speedster to see from Robins perspective.

'Ok. Wow. This is so weird. Wait. The compound on the lefts venom. The other's that blockbuster formula from CADMUS,' Wally said via the link. Dick peered through more files and discovered a new compound. 'Venom and Blockbuster together to make, Kobra venom? It enhances your strength but the change is permanent,' Wally said with a serious tone. Robin scratched his chin, 'How did they combine the two? And who's the buyer?' he asked.

The rest of the team crouched down atop a metal walkway below the roof of the factory. M'gann was sent outside to do some recon, cloaked of course and the rest stayed put. Though Wally eating his custom made energy bar did annoy everyone since they were a bit peckish.

Matt heard the spinning of rotary blades in the distance and the distinct sound of an engine. 'Superboy, helicopter incoming,' Matt said mentally pointing to where he was hearing the sound. The Kryptonian focused his enhanced sight on the horizon and saw the grey machine come towards them.

Kobra, and a red headed female accomplice waited outside on the runway of the factory. Behind them were dozens of cultists and a large green skinned man whose flesh was in parts of his shoulder. 'Guess we know what the new drug does to people,' Kid Flash thought as he finished his energy bar. Matt could taste the putrid flesh from the Mammoth of a man, and felt like regurgitating his lunch.

The helicopter landed near the cult leader. And from it emerged a tall, well built man, with faded blonde hair and a hockey mask.

Miss Martian, still cloaked was the only one with a good view of this new person. 'Daredevil, sending you a mental image of the buyer,' she said via the link. Matt's eyes widen in panic, 'Wait-wait. No. I mean, what if my senses fry everyone's brains again. Send it to Aqualad,' Matt said.

The befuddled Miss Martian complied, not wanting a repeat of what happened in the cave and showed the image to Kaldur. "Nice save," Robin whispered and the blind hero just nodded in response, despite the fact that he was out of Robins line of sight. Matt and Superboy were the only ones who heard it but the clone didn't seem to care much about their exchange.

Aqualad sees the hockey mask wearing buyer and gasps in surprise. "Sports Master? He's the buyer?"

King Kobra and Sports Master were discussing the terms of the transaction till the latter saw a familiar shimmer move in the air. The hockey mask clad mad removed a collapsible javelin from one of his pouches and threw it at the shimmer. The cloaked Miss Martian barely flew back in time to dodge the weapon but the moment the sensor in the middle passed her it exploded. Leaving Megan dazed on the floor.

"Up there," Sports Master said, pointing to the walkway the team had stood on.

"That's not good," Matt said out loud. Suddenly the Mammoth like test subject of the Kobra-Venom lunged at the teens. Grabbing Superboy and destroying the walkway.

Wally ran off to the side seconds before the impact and Matt grabbed hold of Aqualad and used his Billy Club to slowly propel them down.

Daredevil gets behind Aqualad who forms a shield using his water bearers. A group of cultists start shooting at the two, the shield barely stopping the onslaught of such heavy fire.

Matt takes a few out by ricocheting his Billy Club against their skulls whilst Aqualad uses his second water bearer to shoot small, water based projectiles at the other cultists.

Superboy was busy grappling with Mammoth, the clone landed a sloppy uppercut that sent the green giant stumbling back a few feet. He responded by slamming the clone into the nearby pillar. Almost disintegrating it in the impact. Superboy wrapped his arms around Mammoths waist but the large creature pushed back. The two were at a stalemate.

Robin saw Kobra trying to sneak off and decided to try and take him down alone. The tall albino man heard an echoing laugh and was surprised to see the boy wonder appear before him.

"Batman shouldn't be sending his whelps to sabotage my operations," King Kobra said with a smooth voice. "This is beneath me. Shimmer," he continued, asking his red headed assistant to take down Robin, who accepted the challenge with a cocky grin.

She makes her way to the young hero and throws a kick, easily ducked under by Robin. He flips over her head and throws a spinning hook kick in mid air, hitting Shimmer square in the chest. She falls back, her head hitting the helicopter, knocking her out.

Matt saw that they weren't going to win this fight. 'M'gann, the link still up?' he asked mentally. The gun fire on him and Aqualad increased. 'M'GANN!' he shouted in his mind. The Martian knocks the cobwebs out of her head and re-establishes the link.

'We need to retreat back to the mine shaft. Robin, acknowledge,' Matt said via the link. 'Little busy here,' Robin said in an annoyed tone as he tried hitting Kobra but the tall, red eyed man kept parying his attacks with little effort.

'Rob, now!' Daredevil demanded. Robin threw a smoke bomb on the ground and disappeared from Kobra's sight.

A group of soldiers were blocking their way to Banes secret entrance. 'Wally clear a path,' Matt ordered. Kid Flash nodded and used his super speed to knock the cultists down. 'Superboy, throw that… Thing at the guys over there,' Matt said pointing to an oncoming squadron.

The clone grabs Mammoth by the arm and throws him at the cultists. 'Everyone move,' Matt said, opening the door for everyone as they made there way towards the secret entrance.

As the team regress through the old tunnel a group of Kobra cultists follow suit and eventually, so does Mammoth. "Hey Superboy. Bring the roof down," Matt said. The clone looks at the old support beams and punches them sending tons of rock onto the ground below, blocking their pursuers path.

* * *

"Anyone got a light? I can't see a thing in here," Robin asked. Matt whispered next to him, "Oh no. What a nightmare," he said sarcastically. Robin paused for a few moments and whispered back, "Sorry."

Aqualad removes a large glow stick and bends it into a U-shape, causing a bright red light to emit from it, filling out the cavern. The whole team were out of breath, disheartened by their defeat.

Robin puts his hands on his hips, "How did my first mission as leader go so wrong?" He asks himself in a disappointed voice.

Aqualad steps forward, "You have the most experience but perhaps that is the problem," he suggested. Daredevil nods, "Whenever I tag along with you and Batman the two of you never need to talk, you instinctively know what your roles are. But he kept barking orders at me since he knew I needed guidance. A leader needs to know when to provide information to his team. Not disappear and assume they know the game plan," Matt says making the entire team look at him and Robin.

Robin put his hands on the air, "Oh great, now I have to hold everyone's hands," he yelled in irritation. But that emotion only lasted a few seconds before calling down. "Who am I kidding. You should be leading us Daredevil."

"Him? Please, I can run circles…" Wally started but Robin stopped him. "He's been taking charge for a good chunk of this mission anyways. Wally, you know he's the one," Dick said making the Speedster mellow out and nod. He thought Daredevil was a bit of an ass, but he knew that he was the right guy for the job.

Matt rubs his head out of embarrassment. "You guys sure you want this?" he asks. The entire team gives him looks of approval, though Matt needed to concentrate to be able to perceive them. Superboy even gave him a thumbs up. If that's not a seal of approval, Matt didn't know what was.

"Ok, but under one condition,' Matt said walking towards Aqualad, placing his hand on his shoulder. "I want Kaldur to be my second in command. You stopped me from torturing Bane. I need someone with a clear head and the guts to call me out when I make the wrong call." The Atlantean bowed graciously. "I hope I perform my duties adequately," he said.

Matt smiled at his humility and turned to Robin. "Your instincts are on point. You knew what to do and where to go before any of us. I'll take lead for now. But I'm going to be passing the baton to you. When you're ready to lead the team," Matt said making Dick smile in glee.

The blind hero clapped his hands, "Ok, pep talks over. Our priority is to stop that drug from leaving with Sports Master," Matt said as the team gathered around.

"Funny. That's just what I was going to say," Robin said cheekily.

* * *

Sports Master got out of his helicopter, unable to start it. "Sabotage. Robin?" he asked King Kobra.

"Undoubtedly," the albino informed him. He ordered Shimer to find and fix the problem. The orange headed henchwoman bowed and went to do just that.

One of the cultists asked their leader if they should send search parties to look for the team. "Don't be absurd. They will come to us," King Kobra said.

* * *

A few minutes later Shimmer got the helicopter working again. The blades began to white as they slowly started to spin.

Sports Master, holding a small case of Kobra-Venom made his way to the chopper but stopped. A black blur hit a cultist in front of him, and Kid Flash stood atop him.

Wally smirked as more cultists aimed at him, he ran to the left, drawing fire and attention. "Go. Take the shipment," Kobra told Sports Master. The blond headed mercenary didn't need to be told twice.

He pushed some cultists away, and shot at Kid Flash whenever he tried to nab him. He finally entered the helicopter but heard a loud, primal shout. Suddenly the top of his helicopter concaved, the metal protruding downwards. Sports Master had to go to the floor to avoid getting crushed, trapping him inside the damaged vehicle.

Superboy got off the helicopter with a very satisfied smile, happy to have trapped Sports Master. He sees two cultists aim at him and the clone closes his hands together at great speed, producing a shockwave that knocked the two out.

Mammoth stared down with Superboy. "Wanna rematch?" The clone ask, aching to punch something. The giant monster snarls at him and lunges at the clone. But a large stream of water pushes him back against the tree.

"Sorry. Not the plan," Superboy said, looking at Aqualad who was using his water bearers to hold Mammoth in place, manipulating the water of a nearby pond.

M'gann was disarming the remaining thugs with her telekinesis, making it easier for Wally to take out the remaining cultists. The speedster knocked out a cultists near King Kobra and Shimmer and removed the cultists masks. "Souvenir," he said gleefully in front of the villains before running away to take out the other men.

Daredevil walks behind Shimmer at gets her into a hold, strangling her and knocking her out. Robin and Matt then stand mere feet away from Kobra. The albino looks at the two with blank cold eyes. He shrugs his shoulders and lets his robe fall to the ground, revealing his built physique.

"Sometimes, even a God must stoop to conquer," he said. Matt tilts his head at the cult leader. "There's only one God. And he sure as hell doesn't dress like you," Matt said making Robin laugh at the irony of the statement.

The two teenagers attack Kobra, Matt engaged him head on with his Billy clubs whilst Robin attacked from the back. Kobra effortlessly catches Matt's attacks, swiping away every blow and then ducks when Robin tries to land a flying kick to his back.

The two keep attacking at different angles, and were countered everytime by Kobra, but Matt and Robin noticed that he was slowing down. Eventually, Robin and Matt managed to simultaneously land a shot, sending the tall, albino stumbling backwards, drawing blood.

Aqualad generates an electric current from his tattoos and passes it through the stream of water he was manipulating. The current passes through Mammoth, knocking him out.

The rest of the team circle Kobra, whose back was against the jungle. "Another time perhaps," he said, seeing he was outnumbered. He tried walking into the forest but Matt wasn't having any of that. 'Kid, cut him off,' he commanded via the link.

The speedster ran behind the cult leader and pushed him away from the jungle. Aqualad formed a hammer with his bearers and hit him, M'gann telekinetically pushed him towards Superboy who extended his right arm and clotheslined Kobra, the impact knocking him out cold.

Robin flipped over the defeated 'God' in joy and tied him up, making sure that Batman himself would have trouble with the noughts he used to entrap Kobra.

The team then look at the crushed chopper where Sports Master was trapped in. "We could let him suffocate," Wally suggested facetiously. "As much as I'd love to do that, we can't. Miss M, get him out of there. Robin, Aqualad get ready to restrain him. Wally, Superboy, we'll cut him off if he tries to run," Matt said, making the team take their positions.

Miss Martian's hovers above the chopper, her eyes light up and her hands extended to allow the metal to unbuckle, removing an untold amount of pressure from Sports Master. The mercenary seized this opportunity and throws a phosphorus bomb at M'gann the heat made her skin boil and she fell to the ground in immense pain. The light emitted from the bomb blinded everyone except Matt who ran below M'gann, in an attempt to catch her.

After making sure Miss Martian was safe he threw his Billy Club at the small suitcase sports master was holding, making it fall to the floor, destroying its contents. Matt launched himself at the blonde mercenary, who removed a device from his pouch. He turned it on and a high pitched sound was emitted from it.

Matt held his head and rocked on the floor like a dying baby, the pain making his head feel like it was splitting open. Superboy was feeling the effects of both the phosphorus bomb and the high pitched frequency, even he was unable to stand upright. Sports Master kicks Daredevil in the face for his own satisfaction and runs off into the woods, tapping his left pocket which contained a spare vial of Kobra-Venom.

The team recovers from the attacks after a few moments. Superboy helped Matt up. "You ok?" He asked, speaking slowly, to avoid hurting both his and Matt's sense of hearing.

"I'LL BE FINE!" Matt shouted out making Superboy's ears ring even more. "DID HE GET AWAY?" Matt asked, shouting at the clone.

Superboy nodded and started to rub his ears, Matt perceived this with his working senses and apologies. "SORRY! UM...sorry. What about Kobra?" He asks.

Aqualad threw the tied up leader in front of Matt who crossed his arms. "At least we got him," the blind hero said, dissatisfied that he couldn't nab Sports Master as well.

Robin places his hand on Matt's shoulder. "We picked the right guy to lead. Which makes you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman," the young hero said, laughing out loud. Matt frowned slightly as Aqualad turned up. "So, who's telling Bat's we let Sports guy get away?" He asks the Atlantean, who wasn't very keen on explaining that to Batman either.

* * *

The team were lined up in their civilian gear, like a group of soldiers at boot camp. Batman was pacing methodically, back and forth, his hands behind his back, making the teens very anxious.

Matt and Aqualad stood at the beginning of the line, willing to take full responsibility for the mission and it's failures.

"This was a simple recon mission. Observe and report," Batman said in a grim tone, looking down upon Matt, making his head bow down in shame. Batman walked further along the line, "You will each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes," he continued.

The team braced themselves for further punishment as the Dark Knight prepared to speak again. "Until then. Good job," he said with a more smooth tone, making the teens look at him with utter confusion and surprise.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adapt to the unforeseen determines success. And how you choose who leads, determines character," Batman said walking away from the team. Matt, Dick and Kaldur smirk at each other when hearing Batman's last sentence.

* * *

Matt stood in front of the St. Patrick's cathedral, cane in hand. He was waiting in the cold New York air for hours, waiting for the priest to open its doors. Like he had done dozens of times in the past whenever he felt he had done something morally wrong as a vigilante. But he never went inside, since the guilt would overwhelm him.

He wanted to torture Bane. He didn't even hesitate. He never hesitated. Not when it came to hurting criminals. But they were still people. And he still respected their place in God's creation. He needed to speak to Father Lanthom. He always made sense of God and his word in a non-preachy manner.

'What the hell am I gonna say. Hey, I'm a blind Superhero who dresses like the Devil and feels guilty when he brutalises bad guys? Oh and I let a dangerous mercenary get away despite having a team of superheroes backing me,' he thinks to himself, wondering if this was such a good idea.

Matt heard the doors open, the old hinges whining as the wood creaked and came the priest in question. Father Lanthom was an elderly man. Bald headed and clean shaven. He wore the black robes of a priest and the white, clerical collar.

He sees Matt, waiting in the cold and invites him in. The blind teen shakes his head, not willing to come inside. The priest gives him a knowing look, many people feel odd coming to church after such a long time. Especially those who have lost as much as Matthew.

"You know, the church received a coffee machine from one of the donors," he said, sitting himself and Matt down on a nearby bench. "Seal of confession still applies over a cup of coffee you know," Father Lanthom said.

Matt knew that the father had seen him in front of the church before, never entering.

He could make out the outline of the cross at the top of the church with his radar sense and sighs. He knew he didn't deserve forgiveness. Not from him.

He picks up his cane and smiles at the old priest, "Until next time father," he said barely above a whisper, tapping his cane and walking away.

Father Lanthom notices a small bruise on Matt's cheek, where Sports master had struck him. The old man shakes his head remembering all the times the red headed teen stood in front of the church bloody and bashed and looks up. "What has that poor boy gotten himself into?" He asks, knowing full well he wouldn't get a response.

* * *

 **And that is a wrap.**

 **I made Matt leader and Kaldur second in command. Daredevil tends to take charge in a good number of team ups in the comics provided someone like Captain America or Iron Man wasn't present so I think it makes sense to make him leader here.**

 **Matt will be in Hell's Kitchen for the next chapter and is going to meet someone very important in the Daredevil mythos. The chapter after that will be episode 5 of the show.**

 **I was kind of half asleep when I wrote the previous chapter so I hope this one was alot better. Let me know.**

 **Anyways Comments:**

 **PandakaiLove:**

 **Hey another great chapter! I have to admit that I was worried when I saw you hadn't updated in weeks, will the schedule be like one new chapter Every month? I love this chapter as well because even though you show that Matt is more experienced you don't make him all powerful. Will the teammates who don't know he's blind learn about that eventually?**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks. Ideally I'd like to write two chapters a month but that depends on my schedule. One a month is a minimum. The team will eventually find out he's blind but that won't be for a long time.**

 **Ok guys, let me know what you thought of the chapter.**

 **See ya!**


	14. Chapter 14

**The Fists of the Hand** :

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, 24th July, 2010** :

"I'm serious," Matt said with vigour as he did another handstand pushup. "Sorry, I just find it hard to believe a team of superheroes would choose _you_ as their leader," Lakshmi replied, amidst fits of laughter. Matt decided to visit her in the evening, since he had time to kill. But now it seemed like a bad idea.

Matt scowled, "Why?" He asks, the taste of sweat in his mouth, still doing his handstand push-ups. Lakshmi kept glancing at Matt's glistening torso and shook her head, "Remember that business course we did in school a few months ago?" She asks, turning around switching her laptop on.

"Yeah, we were meant to propose an idea for a new recreational centre in the city. You guys chose me to represent our school," Matt said switching to one arm push-ups.

The young Indian girl cracks her knuckles, "You proposed a sports centre to the board. And remind me, who did you say our primary competitor would be?" She asked trying very hard not to admire Matt's physique whilst he was working out.

Matt hesitated for a few seconds, "The Boogie Bungalow," he said, remembering the long silence that followed when he told the board that.

"And tell me Matt. What was the Boogie Bungalow?" She asked him, with a wide smile. Matt stopped mid push up and turned his head upward. "It was a um… a strip club," he said, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

"We lost the entire competition because of that. Why did you even mention the _Boogie Bungalow_?" She asked, giggling when repeating the last two words.

Matt stood up and took a towel hanging from the door of a wardrobe. "I broke into that place the night before to beat up a couple enforcers. So when the guy on the board asked me what our companies competitor would be, well, I sort of panicked and it just came out," he said with an embarrassed tone, wiping the sweat off of his body.

Annoyed by the fact that she couldn't stop checking out her friend, Lakshmi picked up a black t-shirt and placed it in Matt's hands. "Please put that on. You being topless is kind of distracting," she said looking away as Matt put the shirt on.

"Sorry, I guess the scars would be pretty distracting," Matt said oblivious to what she meant. Lakshmi looked at Matt with a dumbfounded expression, "Sure, that's what was distracting," she said sarcastically under her breath.

She pulled up some files pertaining to a few criminals and turned to face Matt again. "Who're you tracking this time? Is it a Yakuza guy? Please tell me it's a Yakuza," the black haired girl said, still holding a grudge on the Japanese mafia from when Matt had to save her from them at the mall all those weeks ago

Matt smiled at her. After Lux had discovered his identity, he decided to use her computer skills to his advantage. It started out with her just going through pen drives and disks Matt would confiscate from a few criminals.

She then had the idea of placing bugs in the phones of certain criminals so that Matt would have a better understanding of what they'd be doing and where they were. It was a good idea, with Lakshmi making the bugs and Matt planting them.

When needed, he'd have her find the location of a criminal and he'd go there, saving Matt plenty of time from having to track them on his own.

He points to her computer, "Where's Turk?" He asks. She types in a few commands and some coordinates pop up on her screen, which she enters into a program to find his live location on a map.

"Ok, Turk's phone's at the docks. Let me check CCTV footage to make sure. Hmm… yep, he went in with a couple of guys about a half hour ago," she said, somewhat conflicted about illegally accessing security cameras. Matt pats her on the shoulder, "Good work," he says, making her smile. The blind hero opens her window, ready to leave. "Matt, Be careful. Please," she says, concern dripping from her voice, remembering his scars.

"When am I not?" He asks rhetorically and jumps out the window.

* * *

The docks of Hell's kitchen.

For decades criminal organisations and corrupt law officials used them to transport their illicit goods in and out of the city. Anything from drugs and human slaves to weapons and electronics have been brought through here.

Whilst the government controls the docks on paper, in actuality the power over the dock alternates between two primary groups.

The Japanese mafia, AKA, The Yakuza. And the Italian/Sicilian mafia run by a Sicilian crime family called the Bertinelli's.

The Yakuza and the Bertinelli's were at open war over the docks for decades. Even if nothing illegal was being shipped, those who had power over the docks still made income by taking a small percentage out of the legitimate profits made.

By the time both sides realised that the bloodshed was going nowhere it was too late.

The Russian mafia, AKA, The Bratva had taken control over the docks by bribing the right people.

The Bratva however, unlike the Yakuza and the Bertinelli crime family had no interest in having sole usage of the docks. They operated more like a business. They were willing to let each of the other crime syndicates use the docks and keep the cops off their backs when they did so, as long as The Bratva got a 15% cut of the profits.

Considering billions of dollars' worth of illegal goods are transported to the docks each year. 15% is quite a lot.

Tonight, it was the Bertinelli's who were making use of the docks. They were receiving a shipment of some sort. But there have been delays.

And the last thing they want when making a large, illegal shipment were delays.

* * *

Matt was perched atop the horizontal steel beam in one of the warehouses at the dock, the shadows concealing his still form. He could hear his targets heartbeat.

Turk Barrett.

Turk was one of those criminals who despite making mistakes that would get others in his line of work killed or arrested, he would get away with since he had the right connections. A few lawyers, a couple lieutenants of the major gangs, some beat cops etc.

He somehow managed to walk the thin line between being absolutely useless and having too much information quite well. He knew just enough information and people so that he could conduct business with relatively ease but he didn't know so much that someone high up would want to kill him to stop that information from spreading.

Matt met Turk during his first week as a vigilante. Four men were assaulting him for selling their leader a faulty gun, resulting in her getting shot and killed. Matt saved Turk from the four and threw him in a dumpster, hoping that maybe Turk would change.

Unfortunately for Matt, he didn't.

The blind vigilante overheard that the Bertinelli's were meant to meet Turk to finalise the payment on some shipment. And judging by Turk's current predicament, he didn't follow through.

Still perched atop the steel beam, he listened in on the conversation.

"Y'see, time for bein' nice is over," a large man said, clad in an expensive Italian, wool suit. He placed his fingers through the hair of a man tied to the chair and pulled, causing his victim to squeal in pain. "The beatin's I gave you so far was me askin' all nice like," he continued.

The large man, clearly working as a muscle man for the Bertinelli's, Matt surmised took a lighter out of his pocket. He flicked it open and lit a cigarette, placed in his mouth by one of his lackeys.

He took a big puff and blew smoke directly into the battered face of the bound man in the chair, the warm smoke stinging his wounds as embers narrowly miss his eyes.

"Now I'm gonna have t' be serious," he continued, slowly removing a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket and sliding them onto his right hand. The sound of metal sliding over skin reminded Matt of Bullseye.

His blood started to boil. 'Calm down and listen,' Matt reminded himself, using every ounce of self-control he had, stopping himself from leaping in the middle of these thugs and taking them down.

He needed to get as much information as possible.

The large man hits his captive in the gut, the brass knuckles grinding against his bones. "Where's the shipment of computer chips from Korea, Turk?" he asks, blowing smoke onto his face once more.

Turk splutters blood from his mouth as he struggles to talk, "You didn't say nothing about no coded boxes of chips. It weren't on the manifest," he said making direct eye contact with the man interrogating him.

He breaths in another gulp of smoke and flicks the still lit cigarette in Turks face, giving him a small burn.

'These Bertinelli thugs are a bit too violent for their own good,' Matt thought as he made his way closer to the part of the warehouse where Turk was being tortured. He senses another steel beam twenty feet in front of him. After making sure no one was looking he leaped towards it and grabs the edge with the tips of his fingers, barely grabbing onto it.

Matt groaned quietly as he brought himself to a perched position on the beam, his chest had impacted the beam quite hard when he made his jump. Luckily for him, Bertinelli's men were too preoccupied with Turk to see his stumble.

Hearing the sound of a fist pounding flesh, Matt became red alert once more. He heard the men's heartbeats. They were right below him.

He quickly analysed the situation once more. 'Large warehouse with many containers to hide behind and run across. Four men, larger than me, all armed with handguns and knives which are all holstered thankfully and Turk tied to a chair. Should be fine,' Matt thought as he removed his Billy clubs.

Before the head honcho could hit Turk again the lights above suddenly burst, the glass raining onto the ground. The four men huddle closer to each other, instinctively reaching for their guns. Matt used this opportunity to strike.

He hits the two taller members on the head with his billy clubs, the sound of a familiar 'CLUNK' followed by the two falling to the floor told Matt that they weren't getting up for a while. The red clad hero kicked the man directly in front of him in the knee, causing him to stumble forward, Matt used this opportunity to deliver a kick to his face. Third man down and out.

The fourth man, the one who interrogated Turk was furthest away from Matt. He pulled out his gun when Matt was taking out his 'co-workers.'

"I kill you and I'm gonna get made," he said out loud as he took aim at Matt, hoping to God he would be able to hit the vigilante in the poor light. Without even turning his head in the man's direction Matt threw his Billy Club at his gun, disarming him. The large man pulled out the knife from his suit and charges towards Matt. He throws his remaining Billy Club into the man's temple whilst casually walking towards Turk.

Matt hears a loud thud and then a groan.

Hearing this he makes a beeline towards the still conscious mobster. 'These idiots think they're so scary,' he thinks, grabbing the man by the ankle and dragging him across the floor.

'Let's see him last ten minutes with me,' he thinks to himself, dragging the Bertinelli thug halfway across the warehouse, ignoring his pleas for forgiveness. He starts to move behind a container out of sight from Turk. The Sicilian mobster claws at the floor trying his best to move away from Matt but to no avail, he's too dazed to put up any real resistance.

Turk looks at the container where Matt and the man hid behind and closed his eyes, after hearing ear shattering screams.

* * *

"THAT'S IT, TH…THAT'S ALL I K..NOW. PLEEASSEE, JUST LET ME GO!" the Bertinelli thug yells out, his expensive Italian wool suit pants were now stained with urine and his face was wet with a river of tears.

'Tough guy barely lasted two minutes before he talked,' Matt lamented as he went over the information he just received.

The Bertinelli's were meant to receive a shipment of missile guidance chips for the Yakuza, with Turk being the middleman between the two. But thanks to Matt's actions from weeks prior, the Yakuza had lost interest in said missile chips.

Not wanting to waste an expensive investment, The Bertinelli's decided to sell the chips to the highest bidder. But they didn't appear with the shipment.

Naturally they blamed Turk, assuming that he had something to do with the guidance chips going missing. Matt wanted to investigate further.

Daredevil walks towards Turk, causing the battered crook to panic. He struggled against his bonds but the rope was digging into his skin, making any kind of escape attempt very painful. The vigilante holsters his Billy Clubs and pulls a small knife from his belt.

Turk closes his eyes and hyperventilates. Ready to be tortured again.

But much to his surprise he felt a sense of relief. The feeling of cold air against his once bound skin. Matt had sliced off the ropes that tied him to the chair. Turk went to stand up but Matt pushed him to the ground, somewhat gently so that he didn't break something in the fall.

Turk was a very, very skinny man of African American descent. He sported dreadlocks that would make Snoop Dogg blush and his once bright orange shirt was now torn and stained with blood.

Matt obviously didn't know this since he was blind but he did touch Turks face, feeling the large bruises and swollen left eye.

"Listen man, I don't know nothing about those chips. I thought this was just a routine arms shipment, you feel me?" Turk blurted out after Matt touched his face.

Despite his heart rate being extremely elevated from Turk panicking and being terrified, Matt knew he was telling the truth. His body language revealed that.

Matt grabbed Turk by his torn collar. "Do you know where those missile guidance chips are? And don't even think about lying, I'll know," he says in a steady, deep voice. Turk, remembering the screams of Matt's previous victim decided it'd be wiser just to tell the truth.

"I don't know man. They never showed up. Guess someone stole them or something."

Matt raised an eyebrow under his mask, "Stole the shipment before it reached the dock? The Bertinelli's were here half an hour before the ship even arrived," Matt yelled out to Turk as he relayed the information he had received.

Turk put his hands up in the air, "Listen, maybe it was swept away at sea or something, I dunno. Just let me go man, I ain't done nothin'."

Matt smirked, "If you give me one more piece of information, I'll let you leave this dock with both legs functioning. Seem fair?" he asked rhetorically.

Turk nodded, just wanting to get back home.

"The heads of the three biggest crime families in New York are meeting up. I wanna know why," Matt said putting his hands on Turk's shoulder, reminding the skinny criminal who was incharge.

"Look, I ain't got anything concrete, but word on the street is that The Russian guys _granddaughter_ went missing. Some dudes in ninja gear turned up and demanded a ransom. But mind you, I heard that from some stoned security guard," Turk said meekly, his eyes fixed on Matt's.

Daredevil let him go. "Ok," he said simply after hearing his heartbeat.

"Wait. That's it?" Turk asks in disbelief, unable to believe his luck. Matt turned his face towards him and with a patronising smile he punches Turk in the jaw making him slump to the floor.

Matt sighs, "That was far too satisfying."

* * *

As Matt made his way up a building he noticed something out of the ordinary. His radar picked up something moving away from him. Jumping between rooftops.

Ignoring the pain in his chest he runs after the figure. He picks up a scent, a human fragrance. Matt then picks up on the sound of a breath, and another. He was getting closer. Now he could hear a heartbeat, strong and steady and footsteps that were light as a cats. The footsteps take a sharp left and Matt follows suit.

He could detect her scent again, 'Definitely not a man's scent' Matt thought to himself as he became closer and closer to the footsteps.

Suddenly Matt felt something move through the air at blinding speeds. A foot. 'Whoever she is, she just tried to kick me.' he thinks to himself.

With Matt distracted by the kick, she takes one of Matt's Billy Clubs from his belt and wacks him across the face, cutting his cheek.

Much to the girls surprise, the guy in red smiles. And she does as well.

'She can fight. This might be interesting,' he thought to himself as he slowly moved towards her. She mirrors his movements, pacing herself.

He throws a jab, she parries it. She tries to sweep him off his feet with her leg but he leaps backward to evade it. Matt rushes towards her and jumps into the air, his knee extended aiming for her torso. She rolls sideways to evade the attack at uses the stolen Billy Club to strike at Matt again.

But Matt was ready this time, he grabbed the weapon and pulled the girl close.

Her breathing seemed restricted, Matt could feel fibres in the air next to her face. Probably some cloth to conceal the lower half of her face. And judging by her heartbeat she must be around his age but Matt couldn't tell for sure unless he spent a few more seconds analysing her.

The girl runs her hand across Matt's face, flustering the blind teenager slightly but was soon brought out of the trance after her knee was driven straight into his groin. Matt winced in pain, his grip on her loosening enough for her to break free. She drops the Billy Club to the ground and leaps off of the building that they were on.

Matt runs and tries to grab her, but manages only to grab the cloth on her face. A scarf. This throws off her timing and she misses the ledge to the next building. Her left shoulder grazing the concrete as she fell down the side of the building.

She grabs onto the fire escape that was attached to the building, breaking her fall. She drops to the ground and runs into the street.

Matt could taste the blood in the air from her shoulder wound but he didn't want to run into the streets chasing after some girl. The teenager then remembered he had her scarf in his hand. He scratches his head in confusion.

'Who was that?' he thinks to himself

He put his finger to the wound on his cheek and sighs.

"How am I gonna explain this one?" He asks.

* * *

Mark was out for a few days, negotiating his fight with the heavyweight champ. Leaving Matt home alone.

The apartment was a mess. While Matt did simple tasks like cleaning the dishes and taking out the trash in his brother's absence, using the washing machine was a little above Matt's skill set. Being blind and all. As a result, the floor was covered in dirty, and occasionally blood stained clothes.

Matt took off his helmet, enjoying the feeling of his hair straightening out from its compressed state under the head gear. After taking off his utility belt and placing his Billy clubs on the ground he went to take off his armour, an aching pain filled his chest.

After taking a painstaking minute to slowly remove the tiresome piece of clothing he put his fingers against his sides to check for any broken ribs. He then breathed in and out, checking for any pain.

"No broken ribs tonight," Matt said to himself, relieved. He went to the bathroom and took out some pain relief cream for his bruised chest. As the chemicals in the cream stung his skin Matt promised himself he'd never jump into a steel beam again for as long as he lived.

He thought of applying the cream to small cut on his face, courtesy of the mystery girl on the roof but decided against it. Not wanting to apply stinging chemicals to an open wound.

The teenager was about to plop into bed when he heard his phone vibrate.

'Britt...Britt...Britt,' the monotonous voice on his phone said as Matt groaned. He begrudgingly picked up his phone and answered the call. 'This better be important Britt,' he thought to himself as he placed the phone to his ear.

"Dude, I've been waiting outside your place for like five minutes, where are you?" the young millionaire to be asked, Matt hearing the hum of an engine through the phone. He concentrated slightly and heard Britt's heartbeat and the engine just a few floors down.

"Um, why?" was all Matt could muster wondering if he missed something.

Britt sighed, "Remember, the party at my Dad's place. You promised you'd tag along so I wouldn't hang myself listening to old, rich white guys drone on and on about polo."

"Oh yeah," Matt said, remembering the conversation the two had the other day.

The blind teen rubbed his chest, 'A few hours of idle chit chat with the 1% can't be as bad as fighting Italian mobsters,' Matt thought to himself. Realising he was just wearing his boxers and socks, Matt sheepishly asked Britt to wait another few minutes whilst he got ready. To which Britt agreed to.

After rummaging around the mounds of clothing he finally found the suit he wore to his father's funeral. It was second hand and a little smelly but it'd have to do.

After wearing the suit pants he layed out the white shirt and gave out a loud sigh. He'd have to put on a shirt and hurt his chest doing so.

"Great. Well at least there won't be any criminals to beat up over there."

* * *

'The universe loves to prove me wrong,' Matt thinks to have himself. He recognised the heartbeats of the head of the Russian Bratva, Anatoly Knyazev, the head of the Bertinelli's, Sal Bertinelli and the head of the American division of the Yakuza, Nobu Yashida.

Anatoly was a slightly overweight man with a bald head and was wearing a black suit and red tie. He had a grand white beard and a friendly smile. His voice reminded Matt of his own grandfather, if he had a Russian accent. No one would ever expect Anatoly to be a violent criminal at first glance.

Sal Bertinelli was a tall man, well over six feet tall. He had slicked back black hair and wore a cream coloured Italian suit with a blue tie. Matt could smell the cigars in his pockets. He looked like he'd fit right in a Martin Scorsese movie.

Nobu was the only man in the entire mansion to not wear a tie or bowtie. He wore a grey blazer with a white shirt, the top buttons being opened, showing a hint of his tattoos. He had a steely expression on his face, which didn't change no matter the circumstance.

Matt rubbed his back, remembering the beating he received from Nobu the last time they met. The three mob heads were making casual conversation to the rich and vapid men and women present at the party. According to Britt they weren't invited but Matt figured that men of their stature didn't care much for invitations.

The blind teen rubbed the sweat that was pouring on his face, hissing slightly as he accidently rubbed his wound on his cheek.

"How'd you get that?" Britt asked.

"Walked into a pole," Matt said almost immediately. Britt eyed his friend, "Really? Well that pole must have been coming at you really fast to cut you like that." Matt rubbed the hilt of his cane, Britt's mom was a doctor and he's a junior MMA fighter. He knows his wounds.

The older teen put his shoulder on Matts, "Most guys I know usually just have a new shirt whenever I meet then. You're the only one I know who has a new bruise every day. You can't expect me to believe that you walk into poles this often."

Matt adjusted his bow tie, not sure how to respond to his worried friend.

Britt turned Matt around noticing his bow tie was askew. "I swear to God I know how to tie these things," he said as he adjusted the fabric. Matt smiled, "Dude, you spent the whole ride here trying to do my bow tie. Not sure you're gonna get it in the next two seconds."

The taller boy let out a grunt, a vein popping out as he tried remembering where each loop went. "Maybe, just maybe I'm pretending to suck at this to avoid talking to the boring grown-ups here," he said, trying to justify his incompetence with the bow tie.

Sensing this Matt replied with, "Is that why you spent twenty nine minutes and forty three seconds on it in your car on the way here? To avoid talking to the grown-ups?"

Britt looked at Matt with a puzzled look. "You timed that?"

"Yeah, it took that long," Matt said, taping his braille watch. "So, where's your dad?" Matt asked. He knew where he was but he needed to keep up the pretence that he was a regular blind guy.

The tall teen turned Matt a few degrees to his left. "He's there, trying to smother the guests with the grand tales of how he exposed Nixon in the watergate scandal."

"He did?"

Britt shrugged, "Ours was one of the first papers to report on it I guess." Matt stopped prying further after hearing the tone in Britt's voice. He and his father don't get along very much.

"Britt?"

"Yeah?"

"You said there would be girls here. You know, around our age. So far you haven't seen a single one."

Britt looked at Matt with a confused expression on his face, "How do you know there aren't any girls our age here?"

Matt hesitated a moment, trying to best word his response. "Because if there were, you'd ditch me and run towards her the first chance you get. Especially if she were hot."

Britt looked at Matt sheepishly, "I wouldn't ditch you immediately. But I mean..." his sentence trailed on. His head turning in a certain direction.

"Earth to Britt, earth to Britt. Wake up," Matt said knocking his friend on the head. Britt ignored him and turned Matt's head to where he was looking. "Look."

"I can't see," Matt said, annoyed at how often people seem to forget that.

Britt composed himself, his eyes still fixed on what he was looking at. "You wanted girls. Well there's one now."

Matt listened for her footsteps. They were slight, concentrated. She was wearing heels, her gait suggested she was in her teens. Around Matt and Britt's age. Focusing even more Matt could detect her scent, a very powerful perfume. Orchid flavoured.

Straightening his hair Britt asked Matt, "How do I look?"

Matt raised an eyebrow, refusing to even respond to the question. Britt seemed too flustered to even correct himself.

"I bet you ten bucks the conversation doesn't last two minutes." Matt told his friend.

Britt cracked his knuckles, psyching himself up for the confrontation. "You're on."

The girl went to the bar and ordered some cranberry juice. With every step Britt took towards her, Matt could hear his heart beat become faster and faster. Matt suppressed a laugh. "He is going to screw up so bad," the blind teen said tapping his cane on the floor in anticipation.

The girl took a sip of her juice. She had olive brown skin and emerald eyes, her hair was long, reaching her shoulders and she was wearing a sleeveless red dress that was an inch past her knees. Her arms and legs were well toned and she has a slight figure. Admiring the beautiful girl, Britt casually leaned on the counter to deliver his line. "So," he said, trying to deepen his voice. "Rich people, am I right?" he asked rhetorically.

Without even taking a glance at him, she takes her drink and walks away in the opposite direction. "That went well," Britt said to himself sarcastically.

He slumped his shoulders as he walked back towards Matt, who had a smile on his face the size of the moon. "Thirteen seconds. That's shit even by your standards."

"Shut up," Britt said sulking slightly.

Matt covered his mouth, as a laugh slowly releases itself in spurts. "Please tell me you didn't use the 'Rich people' line!" he said tapping his foot trying to dissipate the energy from the laughter.

"It's bound to work eventually," Britt muttered.

Not being able to contain himself Matt started laughing out loud. His chest felt like it was on fire when he was doing it but he didn't care. This was too funny for him.

Britt squared up with him. "Ok wise guy, let's see you talk to her."

Kneeling over, Matt banged his chest as the last of the laughter was out of his system. "Alright, where is she?"

"There," Britt said turning Matt in her direction. 'Next to the staircase,' Matt thought as he recognised the outline thanks to his radar sense. Extending his cane, Matt shot a brash smile at Britt. "By the way, you owe me ten dollars," he told his rich friend, reminding him of their bet.

Matt tapped his cane, side to side as he approached the staircase. People gave way, seeing a blind kid walking through the crowd. "Man without fear. Man without fear. Man without fear," he repeated to himself, the slogan in the newspaper fresh in his mind.

But as Matt walked closer he heard something familiar. Her heartbeat. 'It's the same as…no. No way. Roof top girl?' The girl glances at Matt, the cane and glasses tend to make him stand out. She was about to alter her gaze till she notices the wound on Matt's cheek.

Before Matt could analyse her further and vice versa, a butler rang a bell.

"Would you all kindly make your way to the ballroom? The dance is about to begin," the butler exposited as all the party goers made their way to the adjacent room.

In all the commotion, Matt lost track of the girl. 'She was right there. Where's her heart-beat? ' Matt then feels a light but tight grip on his shoulder. The hand glides across from his shoulder, to his neck and finally reaches his cheek.

"Shall we dance?" an English-French accent asked, her silver tongue sending shivers down Matt's spine.

He smirked, "Why not?"

They walked to the ballroom, arms interloping so as to guide Matt. Britt looked at the two and whistled. "Damn. I should really get the blind thing going."

* * *

Matt took some time to get further details about "Roof top girl." 'Let's see. She's 5 foot 5 inches tall, 124 pounds. She's in amazing shape and still has that wound on her shoulder from earlier. Her accent seems English but with a hint of French. Maybe Greek as well. Her wrists have minute scars, probably not visible. Presumably from harsh conditioning, also from knife and sword fighting.'

The girl seemed to realise that Matt was analysing her. She slowly placed his right hand on her waist and she intertwined her left hand in his. This distracted Matt long enough for her to get a word in.

"You looked better in red," she said quietly, her voice sounding like velvet to Matt's ears. Knowing it was futile to outright deny what she was implying Matt decided to play along.

"Funny, I thought the suit was yellow," he sad with a charming smile. The girl let's out a small laugh.

They continued to dance, with Matt surprising the girl with his near perfect sense of rhythm. "Before you say anything else, no one here is going to believe you," Matt said with a stern tone, a smile still on his face.

She raises an eyebrow. "You mustn't be a very good judge of character if you think I'd claim that a blind teenager is capable of jumping across rooftops," she said in a matter of fact manner.

"I know plenty about you," Matt said. She gives him a faux-sincere look. "Please, elaborate," she says.

"Well. I know your beauty is a problem, gets you some unwanted attention. A lot of older guys are turning their heads, looking at you right now. But you don't seem to mind. Probably because you know you can take care of them if they try anything. The bones in your hands and wrists are heavily calcified, meaning you've extensive training in hand to hand combat. I'm also guessing you're a bit of an adrenaline junkie, since you like jumping on rooftops," Matt surmised, hoping to invoke a reaction in the mysterious girl.

She grabs his hand tighter and pulls him closer to her. "You've a second hand, unwashed suit, meaning you're relatively poor. So you're only here to accompany your idiot friend. You keep tilting your head towards the Japanese fellow a few feet to the left, meaning you know him and are perhaps cautious of him. You also understand various languages, seeing as though you can follow the conversations of the Russians over there and the Sicilians behind them. And yet you waste your talents punching low lifes in this city. I wonder why?" She asks in a slow but deliberate manner making Matt's facetious smile morph into a real one.

She continues, "Perhaps you want to feel some purpose in this world. And instead of utilising your abilities to help yourself, you choose to hunt criminals to feel better about your life. Now, your mind is racing, wondering what you could possibly say to keep my interest."

Matt tilts his head closer to hers.

"You know what I think?" Matt asks.

"Hmm, do tell," the girl says. "I think you're bored," Matt whispers into her ear, making her apathetic facade fade away slightly. This urges Matt to continue.

"Cus, despite your holier than thou attitude and charm school manners, you're bored. So bored you'd spend time your valuable time looking at a guys suit and the way he moves his head. Because, in spite of having all the riches in the world there's one thing daddy's money can't buy you," Matt said, whispering in an enticing tone.

She looks at him, curiosity filling her eyes, "And what's that?" she asks, her breath flush against Matt's face, their lips barely an inch apart.

He lets go of the grip she had on him and walks back. "The unexpected," he says in a sly tone, reaching for the cane he placed near a pillar and walking away. Leaving the mysterious girl speechless and more curious than ever.

* * *

"Probably should have gotten her name," Matt says, scolding himself as he climbs onto the roof of the mansion. He heard the three crime bosses make their way to an empty room in an isolated part of the mansion and he wanted to be away from the crowds.

Matt hears the doors being locked and he peers in on the what was taking place. The three men stood around a table, no one willing to be the first to sit down. Anatoly stepped forward, "Gentlemen," he said in an almost parental tone. "We all know why we have come here tonight."

Sal Bertinelli removes a cigar from his silver container, and his attendant lights it for him. "Yeah, we do, your granddaughter's been nabbed. But I think we can safely assume who our, lets say, culprit is," he said looking at Nobu. The still faced Yakuza head glares at Sal, making him alter his gaze. "You dare accuse me of such a dishonorable act. Unlike your organization, I have no interest in harming children," he says, his deep voice penetrating the room.

The Sicilian mobster laughs amidst coughing fits, exhaling smoke. "Word is some shit-heads dressed like _ninja's_ did the deed. Last I checked, those guys came from your part of the world."

Nobu slowly makes his way to Sal. His bodyguards stand in front of him and point their guns at Nobu. The Yakuza leader makes a gesture and his own men stand down, holstering their guns. "If I were to undertake such a task, I would see to it myself. Not employ some boogie men," he said, his eye's never moving away from the Sicilian's. Sal simply blows some smoke in Nobu's face, knowing full well the smaller man could easily overpower him and his men.

"Gentlemen, please. Let us not resort to our baser instincts and let us discuss the matter at hand like civilised men," Anatoly says. Sal and Nobu stare at each other for what seemed to be an eternity but they straightened their suit jackets and moved away from each other.

The elderly Russian sits down in his chair and Sal and Nobu follow suit. Anatoly looks at the two with a fatherly expression. "I know that the two of you would never have the audacity to perform such an act. We are all old enough to remember the blood shed by your two organisations twenty years ago."

Sal leans forward, "Then why'd ya call us here for?" Anatoly snaps his fingers and his men place glasses in front of the three mob leaders. One of the Russian men, holding an expensive Russian Vodka pours its contents into the glasses, Matt held his nose to block out the scent.

"Whomever is responsible for kidnapping my granddaughter will face justice. That I can assure you. I just wanted to ensure that our business with each other would not be affected by the actions of a third party," the elderly Russian said. Nobu nods, clinking his glass with Anatoly's. Not wanting to seem disrespectful, Sal does the same.

"Za zdorovje," Anatoly said, making a toast. The three men drink and stand up, shaking each others hands. Nobu graciously bows before Anatoly before exiting the room.

Matt hears the Japanese man's fingers touch the screen of his phone. "I request a meeting with her. Yes, in regards to the kidnapping," Nobu said in a hurried tone, which struck Matt as unusual. 'Maybe he knows more than he's letting on,' the teenager thinks to himself.

Whilst Nobu was waiting for his driver, Matt changed into his 'work clothes,' hiding his suit and bowtie in a backpack he brought to the party. The red clad hero tailed Nobu's driver and slid underneath the large limousine, clinging onto its bottom.

The vehicle was driven to Nobu's location and made its way to his house. 'At least this things a hybrid,' Matt thinks to himself, grateful for the lack of fumes.

Half an hour later and the car stops in front of a gate which an elderly Japanese man opened. Matt could perceive the outline of the house via his radar sense and was surprised by how compact it was.

He could sense that it was only a storey tall, a large living room, two bathrooms, a room filled with computers and another filled with exercise equipment and weapons. There were a dozen guards present on the premises, excluding the elderly man.

Matt let go of the underside of the limo and rolled into the nearby foliage. He stayed crouched down, hidden amongst the shrubbery.

He heard Nobu enter his quarters and Matt rushes past the guards, the darkness concealing his movements. He walks behind a guard who was entering via a back door of the house and moves into the next room the moment he enters.

Matt had to move in such a way that the security cameras wouldn't be able to spot him. He walks across the hall, making no noise but stops when he hears footsteps. The blind hero waits behind the corner and the moment the guard passes it he grabs him and chokes him out.

After gently placing the guard to the floor he goes towards Nobu's room. Matt put some oil on the hinges in order to open the door a bit more quietly. He could tell that when he entered the room Nobu would be facing away from him.

"Yes. Of course...can I help you?" Nobu said, a phone to his ear, turning around. "No, I was not referring to you," he said cutting the call. "I wasn't expecting to meet you again under such circumstances Akuma-San." Nobu said, impressed that Daredevil had been able to enter his house without him knowing.

Matt maintained some distance, he knew he couldn't beat Nobu in a fight if it came down to one. He needed some other avenue to get the information he wanted.

"What do you know about the kidnapped girl?" Matt asked bluntly. Nobu looks at the red clad vigilante with a cold gaze. "An overzealous colleague of mine saw fit to apprehend the child. He did not even bother to consult me," the Yakuza boss said in a bitter tone.

Nobu removes his coat and folds his sleeves up, showing off part of his dragon tattoo. Matt knew this was a power play, the Japanese man could beat him whenever he wanted. But he was going to give him some information anyways.

" _Hagabe no hebi_ , is what he calls himself," Nobu said writing something on a piece of paper, tossing it to Matt. He catches it, " _Steel Serpent_ ," he said, translating the Japanese Nobu just used.

Nobu sits down, calming Matt down somewhat. "That paper contains the address of where the girl is being kept. I trust you'll find her in time, Akuma-San," he said almost graciously.

Matt gave him a snide smirk, 'This has to be a trap,' the blind hero thinks to himself before disappearing from Nobu's sight. The Japanese man sighs, hoping that he did the right thing.

* * *

"It's definitely a trap," Lakshmi said over the commutator as Matt swung between buildings. "Yeah, but he was telling the truth and besides, a kid's life's at stake," He said, not able to believe that he was trusting the word of Nobu of all people. Matt leapt onto the building neighboring the one Nobu told him about.

He concentrated, trying to detect anything that might be a threat in the building. There weren't any windows, judging by the lack of air flowing through the place. The entire structure smelt of rot, the wood and concrete were ancient. Matt could hear the heart of a six year old girl but little else. The blind teen turned around, thinking he felt something move behind him.

But he detected nothing and turned his attention back to the building. "I'm getting nothing," Matt informed Lakshmi. The young Indian girl put her hand to her brow. "Please tell me you're not going in there," she said.

Matt nodded, "Haven't got much of a choice," he said over the communicator. "I'll call detective Blake if you don't respond in the next hour," she said reluctantly, knowing the drill by this point

"I'll be fine, don't worry. It's me remember," Matt said somewhat jovially in an attempt to make Lakshmi more at ease. She sighs, an exasperated look appeared on her face. "No offence man. But you gave up your secret ID to flirt with a girl. I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved the whole Sherlock Holmes - Irene Adler thing that you guys had going on, but still. Kind of shows how careless you can be," she said, recalling the events at the party.

"Wait, you heard that?" Matt asked in an alarmed tone. "You forgot to turn off your communicator," she said finding her friends current tone amusing.

The blind hero rubs his head, "We'll talk about the girl at the party, after I save the kid." Matt says before jumping off of the building he stood on and walks through the front entrance of the target building.

"Good luck Matt," Lakshmi said before cutting the call.

* * *

Matt removed his Billy clubs and joined then together to form a bo-staff. He had a feeling he'd need the range that the weapon provided. The building had three floors. He was currently making his way across the first floor trepidatiously.

He taps the staff on the ground, sending vibrations through the floor, with Matt feeling the reverberations. He detected something coming towards him. The air moved towards him, shapes forming in his mind, looking vaguely humanoid.

One of the figures unsheathed a sword and swung at Matt, who blocked it with his staff and struck the figure in the chest, breaking multiple ribs. The other two assailants attack simultaneously and Matt blocked both attacks and struck them both in the head.

Smoke emits from the fallen attackers and they evaporate into green mist, making Matt cough. "What was that?" He asked himself. The blind hero examines the clothing of his attackers, "Ninja garb, feels like training gear," he says outloud, recognising the fibres.

This worried Matt since he barely detected these trainees and he suspected that the more experienced fighters would be up on the higher floors. He kept tapping his bo-staff, feeling the vibrations.

The only good news was the he didn't have to hold back against these undead Ninja.

He made his way up stairs, turning his head, trying to analyse every part of the second floor. Matt felt something come towards his head at great speed. 'Arrow,' he thinks to himself using his bo-staff to break the shaft of the projectile.

The arrow head fell to the ground and Matt felt a heat being emitted from it. 'Oh shit!' he thinks to himself, jumping away from the arrow head.

The projectile explodes, sending Matt flying to the other end of the room, his armour absorbing most of the impact. His head feels like it was split in two, Matt could hear nothing but ringing. He felt warm blood leaking from his nose and mouth, he definitely had some internal bleeding.

He tried getting up but felt a sharp pain in his chest, 'Great, now I've got broken ribs. Wait, are feet meant to be in that position?' he thinks to himself, feeling his foot dislocated from his leg.

Matt grabs his foot and twists, a pain burning across that area of his body as he put it back in place. He snaps his fingers but hears nothing. He feels around for his staff and picks it up, using it to stand himself up.

He takes a step forward but falls to the ground. 'Did someone hit me?' he thinks to himself, the explosion throwing his senses off. His question was answered when he felt a foot kick him across the face, blood flowing out of his mouth.

Multiple attackers hit Matt, who was unable to defend himself. One of the ninja picks him up, getting him into a choke hold. Matt felt the air leaving his body. 'Can't...die...tonight,' he thinks to himself, removing a knife from his belt. Matt stabs the man behind him in the eye, the ninja disintegrating.

Matt stumbles back, using the wall to help him stay up. A sword was deflected against Matt's shoulder, giving the teenager the ninja's location. Matt stabbed the swordsman in the heart, smoke entering his nostrils.

Breathing heavily Matt picks up his staff and hits thin air, missing the two attackers in front of him. They kick him in the chest, making Matt fall on the floor. The teenager sweeps the ninja using his bo-staff and uses it to crush the attackers skull.

Matt felt that two more attackers were left in the room. He tapped his bo-staff on the ground to see if his hearing was getting better, but all he heard was a muffled knock.

Another arrow hits Matt in the back. A second ninja threw a shuriken at Daredevil. The teenager was being bombarded with multiple projectiles, his skin being bruised and pierced in the barrage despite his armour.

He knew he couldn't take much more punishment. The blind vigilante felt a shuriken come towards him, Matt catches it and throws it at the archer, pinning him in the chest. Daredevil throws his staff like a javelin into the last remaining ninja, the final two undead warriors disintegrate.

Matt coughs out some blood and collapses into the ground, crawling towards his staff. His hearing was still muffled, he struggled to hear his own breathing.

His eyes widened when he suddenly hears a small heart beat. He slowly gets up with his staff, Matt had a child to save.

The red headed teen could vaguely hear a set of large footsteps. He remembered that Nobu warned him off a 'colleague.' Taking a deep breath that made his ribs grind, Matt slowly walks up the stairs to the final floor.

His final challenge.

* * *

After five agonizing minutes of missed steps and the occasional crawl, Matt finally made his way to the top of the stairs. The man waiting for him wasn't a particularly patient one. He sat cross legged on the ground, in the middle of the floor.

Matt stood a dozen feet behind the man, who stood up and faced him. The man was short by American standards, standing at five foot seven. He had a purple cloth mask with pointed black and white eyes, and a purple sash around his waist. His chest was bare, a v-shape gap across the cloth that covered his torso. An 'S' shaped snake tattoo was emboldened on his chest.

"You are just a child. Nobu said you were young but I wasn't expecting this," the man said in a disappointed tone. Matt cracked his neck, "Let's just get this over with," he said, wanting to end this as soon as possible.

"You westerners have yet to learn the value of patience and discipline. But very well. I am Davos, the Steel Serpent. Son of the Thunderer and rightful heir to the Iron Fist," the shorter fighter said, placing his right fist in his left, bowing to Matt.

Daredevil rolled his eyes behind his helmet, 'I thought they only did this in movies,' Matt thinks to himself. "Um… I'm Daredevil. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen and the heir to...well, Hell probably," he said, trying to stall for time in order to recover as much energy as he could.

Davos smirked, "I have defeated a westerner who held the title of Iron Fist in the past. Killing you shouldn't be a problem," he said. Matt put his hand in front of him, "Wait, before we start just tell me, why'd you kidnap the girl?" He asked, wanting to stall some more.

The Steel Serpent looks at him, knowing what Matt's intentions were but deciding to humour him regardless. "To test you of course," he said.

Matt gave him a confused look. "What?" Davos frowns at the vigilante, "Enough! You have wasted enough time," he said getting into a combat stance. Despite his senses not being at their peak Matt could tell that his opponents stance resembled Wing Chun Kung Fu.

He tries to rush the older fighter but his right leg froze, swollen from the previously dislocated foot. The Steel Serpent uses this opportunity and lunges forward delivering three quick punches to Matt's face.

The teenager, dazed from the speed of the attack swipes at Davos' head, who simply ducks under the sloppy attack. He drives a knee into Matt's broken ribs, making him drop his staff and clutch his side.

Unable to stay standing, Matt falls to the ground. Four precise strikes and the injured hero was down.

Davos grabs Matt by the throat and contorts his free hand into the shape of a leopard's paw. Daredevil could vaguely make out the outline of the attack with his now hazy radar sense.

Instinctively, when Davos lowered the leopard's paw to Matt's head, the teenager grabs him by the wrist and pulls him towards his helmet. Matt moves his head forward, headbutting Davos.

The Steel Serpent lets go of Matt's throat and moves back. His hand goes to the blood that was now present at his nose.

Davos forms a fist, which was shaking in anger. Matt felt an immense heat being emitted from it, like Davos was holding the fires of Hell itself. His fist glows a bright purple and he slowly raises it.

Knowing an attack was coming, Matt ducked, feeling a wild punch being thrown at him. Davos missed, hitting the wall behind him, destroying it, sending vibrations throughout the building.

'That would have hurt Superboy,' Matt thinks in an alarmed state of mind, not expecting Davos to have such power. The purple light disperses and Davos' arm starts to shiver. 'My body likes to remind me that this power is not mine to use,' he thinks to himself.

Matt tries to choke the purple masked fighter whilst he was still distracted but Davos uses his good arm to grab Matt and throw him to the ground. He raised his hand, about to charge his fist again till he sees something in the corner of his eye.

Davos puts his hand in front of his face and catches an incoming blade. Whoever threw it did so via the large hole he punched into the wall. Matt could just about make out a silhouette on the opposite building. 'Roof top girl?' he asks himself mentally.

Ignoring this, Matt pulled a knife from his belt and stabs Davos in the knee and swipes down, cutting his thigh as well. The Steel Serpent yells in pain falls to his knees and Matt stands up in a small pool of his opponents blood. He picks up his staff and separates it into two Billy Clubs.

Matt presses a button and the second half of one of his Billy clubs propels itself at Davos' face, knocking him out. He uses the cable to bring the club back to normal and concentrates on the opposing building, to see if his mysterious girl was still there.

Much to Matt's disappointment, she wasn't. "Why did she help me?" He asks himself. The injured teen spits out a final few drops of blood and removes his helmet. The child needed to see a normal looking face when being rescued.

The teenager opens the door that separated the young girl from her freedom. Matt heard her heartbeat and gave her a large, warm smile. "It's ok, you're safe," he said in his normal voice, crouching down despite the pain.

The girl, recognising the costume runs towards Matt, who embraced her and lifted her up. "What's your name?" he asked, using his free hand to put his helmet back on.

"Rose," she said quietly. "I'm here to take you home Rose. Would you like that?" Matt asks, still smiling. She gives him a small nod, Matt made his way to the door, carrying her.

Matt walks out the door and discovered that Davos was no longer on the floor. He could taste a trail of fresh blood that indicated that he had left the building.

'Why were they after _me_?' he thinks to himself. The little girl curls up in his arms and he was brought out of his own head. "Time to get you home," he said.

* * *

Anatoly sat on his leather chair, behind his mahogany desk, drink in hand. His granddaughter, his little Rose. She was one of the few things in his life that gave him a purpose outside of business. He longed to hear her laugh fill his house again.

He stood up and picked up his gun, hearing his window being opened. The elderly Russian lowers his weapon upon seeing who it was that entered the window. A bruised and bloody Daredevil, carrying his granddaughter.

"Dedushka," Rose cries out. Matt lowers the girl and she runs towards the old man, who lifted her up and spun her around. He tears up, not caring that he might look weak in front of the vigilante behind him.

Anatoly looks at Matt's injured state and nods, "The Bratva are forever in your debt," he says with the utmost sincerity. Matt nods, not knowing how to respond to a major gangster thanking him. He leaps out of the window, just aching to get home.

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, 27th July, 2010** :

It was a bright morning in New York. Unfortunately Matt couldn't enjoy it as he spent the past three days in bed, trying to recover. Even with Claire patching him up and his healing meditation it would be some time till he was in peak condition. 'At least I won't get any new scars,' Matt thought, willing to accept any relief in his current condition.

His hearing was almost at full capacity. He made a mental note to brace himself when he suspected any loud noises in the future, he's been trained to deal with such things after all. "Why did those Ninja want me?" He asks for the hundredth time. He wondered if they worked for the League of Shadows but last time he checked their ninja don't disintegrate when beaten.

Matt was about to go back to sleep but he heard a set of cat like footsteps on his roof. He groans, getting off of his bed and picking up a walking stick.

Him and the aptly named 'Roof top girl' had much to discuss.

* * *

Matt could hear her long hair flutter in the wind, he could taste the cornflakes she had this morning. And her orchid flavoured perfume was driving him insane. He snapped out of his trance, 'Get answers first,' he told himself mentally.

The girl turns around, "I was beginning to wonder if I had the right house," she said playfully, walking towards Matt, her hips moving gracefully.

The movement momentarily distracts Matt but he recovers, "How'd you find me?" He asks. She gives him a puzzled look, "I followed you. Just like I followed you that night you saved that girl," she said, her tone of voice more serious now.

"Why help me? Who were those people?" Matt asks, inching closer to her. The girl says nothing, she gently grabs Matt's hand and places it on her back.

The red headed teens eyes widen as he felt what was scarring her skin. Whip marks.

"I know what the Hand does to little girls. Helping you, put a wrench in whatever they were planning," she said as Matt slowly removes his hand from her back.

Matt laughs when hearing the name, "The _Hand_? What, was the Foot taken?" He asks rhetorically. The girl lets out a laugh of her own, understanding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference.

"But why did you come here to my place?" He asks gently. She puts her head next to Matt's ear, and tenderly places her hand on his chest. "You're a smart guy. Figure it out," she whispered seductively.

She was about to leap off of the roof till Matt opens his mouth. "I never got your name."

"Elektra. Elektra Natchios. Yours?"

Matt raised an eyebrow at the unique name, "Uh...Matt. Matthew Murdock," he says with a slight stutter. "We could talk more about the um...Hand. Over a cup of coffee," Matt offered a bit too quickly.

She gives him a surprised look, "Matthew. Are you asking me out?" She asked in a mock-offended tone of voice.

Matt shrugs, "That depends on the answer."

Elektra faces Matt. He closed his eyes behind his glasses, expecting a slap. But instead, he felt her lips pressed against his for a brief moment.

She moved back and gave him a final smile and jumps off of the building.

Matt's face glows a bright red and he scratches his head. "That's a yes, right?" he asked himself, thinking about the kiss they just shared.

* * *

Davos limped past the rows of red clad, elite undead warriors with his head held high, he may have lost against that child but he wouldn't show the troops any sign of weakness. Though he wished he had used men from the elite guard, perhaps they would have faired better than the trainees against the Devil. He growled, not willing to think of hypothetical situations. He had failed and he had to pay the price.

When he entered the large, ornate room Davos did not expect who he saw. "Nobu," he said bitterly. "Davos," Nobu replied in kind.

Davos removed his purple mask and bowed towards the woman sat before the two of them. She waves her hand and the two warriors sit down.

"State your grievance," she says addressing Nobu. A small bead of sweat fell from his head but he spoke all the same, "Davos should have consulted me before kidnapping the girl. There is a proper chain of command that was to be followed," Nobu said looking down upon Davos like a spoilt child. "If you had, I would have told you that trying to lure Akuma-San with such tactics would only end in failure."

The woman considers Nobu's words and looks at Davos, he knew it was his turn to make a retort. "With respect Nobu, I would have defeated the boy. If it weren't for someone intervening," he said, aghast that Nobu could refer to a Western warrior with such respect.

"Could you identify who intervened?" The woman asks, her steely voice put both men on edge.

Davos gulped, "It was Elektra." Nobu stood up, "Are you positive?" He asks, his deep voice reverberating across the room.

"I saw her. I'm willing to bet that her and Daredevil know each other," Davos said, addressing the women in front of him.

She gets up. There wasn't much that could make _Lady Shiva_ herself move from her post. "We are going to have to accelerate the plan. The Beasts return mustn't be affected," she said making both Nobu and Davos nod in agreement almost immediately.

She turns her back and gives a small sigh, removing a small, tattered photograph from her pocket. "Welcome back, little sister."

* * *

 **That's a wrap. Final chapter of the year. Probably won't update till January.**

 **Elektra is a tough character to write. She's been written as a lovestruck college kid. A heart broken lover. Cold blooded assassin or a woman who seems to take a bit too much...pleasure when killing people.**

 **So I decided to go for a flirty version with a troubled past. Hope you like it.**

 **Also I'm struggling to figure out major characters to add to the Hand. I've already got Nobu, Lady Shiva and Steel Serpent. I'll need a couple others.**

 **Any suggestions will be helpful.**

 **Anyways, comments** **:**

 **longbowchris50** **: Did I see an Avatar reference**

 **Me** **: Yes you did. Love that show.**

 **PandakaiLove** **:  
I love this chapter! I think this was very good and I liked the changes you made. I also like that you don't make Matt a saint because the thing that makes him such an interesting charcter is that he isn't. Anyway I do think that Matt would act well as a leader btu I honestly imagine him as the dad of the group. Anyway is the important character going to be elektra? or stick? (that was his name right?) I can' wait for the next chapter!**

 **Me** **: Matt's self imposed misery is one of his defining character traits. And yes, it was Elektra. Hope you liked the chapter.**

 **Shadowwalker0** **:  
An excellent chapter my friend. I do not know if you answered this question already or not, but what is the pairing for this story?**

 **Me** **: Matt X Elektra is the pairing. And thanks for the feedback.**

 **Have a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and a happy new year everyone.**

 **Next chapter is episode 5 of the show but with a slight alteration.**

 **Any comments or followers are all welcomed.**

 **See you all next year/month.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Schooled : **

**Hell's Kitchen, New York, Sunday, August 3rd, 2010 :**

"Turn left," Matt instructed using via his communicator, the woman clad in black nodded and turned the corner on her motorbike. "Arrow, stay on their tail. Let Canary cut them off on the next street," the teenager said. The Emerald Archer maintained a distance of around twenty feet away from the truck. The thug driving the vehicle was about to make a left turn but quickly straighten the wheel when he saw a blonde biker at the end of that road.

This slowed them down to a speed of around thirty miles an hour, which was what Matt was counting on. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen jumped down and landed on top of the hood of the vehicle, denting it. He pressed the button on his weapon and the second half of the Billy club propelled itself through the windscreen and into the drivers face, knocking him out.

Matt grappled onto a lamppost and the the thugs crashed into a nearby fire hydrant. The airbags fill up and cushioned the blow for the thugs inside and water starts spewing out like a fountain from the hydrant. Two bikers rode behind the crashed truck and removed their helmets, revealing the faces of Black Canary and Green Arrow.

"Can I just say how awesome it is working with Leaguers. You guys are so professional, it's really refreshing," Matt said dropping down from the lamppost. Black Canary found it somewhat endearing that Daredevil still used his 'Devil voice' when addressing them.

Green Arrow made his way to Matt, "You called the shots kid, your city and all. Oh, and thank that hacker friend of yours for the heads up, we thought these guys went off the radar after they left Star city," he said making Matt blush. 'Lux is going to be so happy when I tell her about this,' Matt thought, thanking God that his friend was good with computers.

Canary and Arrow had been tracking a shipment in Star city for months. But their attention was divided by various supervillains in the city and they lost track of it. Lakshmi managed to locate it via it's RFID and found out that it was headed towards New York. So Matt called the two heroes over and asked if they wanted to help him take the truck out. They took out the two armored vans protecting the truck, with Canary and Daredevil engaging the goons after they exited their vehicles and then proceeded to pursue the truck.

Elektra was out of town meeting family so Matt didn't call her. Though he wasn't sure she would have if he asked. She wasn't a superhero after all.

"Plus," Green Arrow added, "You're a lot less stuck up than Batman. He'd just shut us down and would've tried to take these guys down on his own. I mean, he usually does everything on his own anyway but team-ups aren't taboo or anything," the bearded hero said, rubbing his arm as he remembered how often Batman used to put him in a hold when they were younger.

Black Canary patted Matt on the shoulder. "If you don't mind my saying, your form was a little sloppy. A fighter who's more technically skilled could exploit that quite easily," the blonde heroine said. Matt gave her a sheepish smile, remembering his defeat at the hands of Nobu and the Steel Serpent, 'But I was injured when I fought the last guy,' Matt thought to himself.

"Batman's assigned me to be the teams combat instructor. I expect you, their leader to take part," she said sternly. The teenager straightened himself up. "Are you kidding? You're like the second best fighter in the entire League. It'd be an honour to learn from you!" Matt said with almost childlike excitement. "See, way nicer than Bats," Arrow whispered to his girlfriend. Canary playfully elbowed him in the ribs in response.

Matt heard something and raised a fist making the two older heroes stiffen up, waiting to get back into action. "There's something inside the shipping container behind the truck. Six, toddler-sized things, hovering in the air. Sounds like they're guarding something big, like a large crate," Matt said. Green Arrow draws his bow and Black Canary takes a step back in case she needs to let out a sonic scream.

The red-armored teenager breaks the lock with his Billy Club and turns to face the two. "Ready?" he asks, the two simply nod. Matt was about to open the door but six green eyed robots fly out, making him fall to the ground. Oliver fires his arrows, taking down four of them within a blink of an eye. He takes a look at what he hit, "Monkey bots?" he asks in disbelief.

He couldn't ogle at them for long though as he felt something cold grasp his shoulders. The archer looked to the side and saw that two of the monkey bots had gotten a hold of him. "Oh crap," he mutters as the tiny robots hover away, taking Green Arrow with them.

Dinah sighs. "I'll save Robin Hood, you take care of them," she said, pointing at the dazed thugs in the truck. Matt gives her a thumbs up and the blonde heroine runs after her damsel in distress. "Guess she's used to this by now," the red-headed teen said to himself, chuckling as he walks towards the thugs, who were now trying to crawl out of the crashed truck.

Matt drags the most injured ones and ties them to a nearby lamppost. He picks up the least dazed thug by the collar and scowls at him. "Who sent you?" he asks with a hoarse voice. The thugs swallows audibly, "I don't know. I swear," he said. Matt applied more pressure to his throat, happy that there weren't many people on the streets this early.

"Lie to me again and crashing head-first into a wall will be the least painful activity of your morning," Matt said, raising his voice. His attention was diverted when he heard a large hiss, come out of the box in the container. A large humanoid figure appears from the box and stands to its full height. It walked out of the container, making the suspension and wheels squeak with every step.

The android was well over seven feet tall, with caucasian skin. It had ginger hair in the shape of a buzz cut and elf-like ears. Its pupils were a bright red surrounded by a black coloured cornea. Its face was stern, with chiseled cheeks, a square jaw, and a narrow, aquiline nose.

Matt tied up the thug he was interrogating and cracked his neck. "This is going to suck," he thought as he ran straight towards the android. The mechanical man turned and carried the empty cargo container over its head and threw it at Matt. The teenager lowered his body and ran underneath the large projectile, feeling it move above his head like a strong wind.

The large machine tries to grab Matt but it was too slow. Daredevil leapt up and delivered a flying knee in the android's chin, making his head go back. Matt used it as a springboard and cupped his fists together, when he went down he hit the android in the back of the head, making it stumble. Matt was about to punch it in the face but the machine grabbed his arm when it made contact and threw him into a wall, damaging it.

Bricks fell down on Matt who was struggling to get up, the wind completely knocked out of him. His eyes widen in surprise when he hears the squealing of rubber and the rumble of an engine mere feet away from the fight. He could hear a woman yelling at a man, presumably her husband to "turn back."

The android drove its foot into the engine of the car and he lifted the vehicle up. Matt could hear five heartbeats inside the vehicle. The machine threw the car at Matt who rolled away to avoid being crushed. He tried to get to the car to help the family but felt the reverberations of heavy footsteps in the ground.

Matt grapples on top of a building and the android walks in his general direction. The blind hero launches his club at the machine but it flew past it's face. It turns to see the projectile and it's eyes observe a cable. The cable was being pulled back into the Billy Club, the android faces Daredevil's direction again. Matt curled himself into a ball and he impacted the android at full speed, knocking it flat on the ground.

Knowing that he had only done superficial damage at best to the machine, Matt limped towards the car, having sprained his ankle in the impact. The blind hero takes in a few deep breaths and twists his ankle back and forth. It felt like his foot was on fire, but Matt didn't care. He needed both his legs fully functioning to save this family.

Matt searched for heartbeats but could only detect one. The father, mother and small child at the back seat weren't breathing. Judging by her outline using his radar Matt deduced that the wife must have been pregnant. He channeled his anger and gave a loud yell throwing a wild kick at the loose hinges of the car door, knocking it down. Matt moved away some of the glass shards and removed the final passengers seatbelt, a teenage girl around his age.

The vigilante dragged her out of the car and placed his hand on her head, noting that she had a concussion. Matt turned his head as he heard the gyros in the Android spin faster, since it got back on its legs. He could tell that he wouldn't have the time to safely grapple away with the girl so he instinctively picked up the largest thing he could to defend himself, the fallen car door.

The android pulled back its fist and Matt braced himself. The machine hit him, denting the car door. Matt felt like he was charged by a rhino. He barely felt the next one, but he had to steady himself to block the one after that. The car door was becoming scrap with every blow and Matt could feel his body slowly give way. 'One more hit and my arms will snap,' Matt thought to himself as he felt his armour give in.

Hearing the girl behind him stir, Matt lowered his head and braced for what he thought would be the last time. Matt felt something hiss through the air, striking the android in the face. He heard a familiar beeping noise. The teenager moved back and covered himself and the girl with the remains of the car door as the arrow exploded.

Three more explosive arrows strike the machine in the chest and blow up, making the Android move back. "Get her out of here, we can handle this," Green Arrow said from the distance. Matt wasted no time and grabbed the girl, grappling away towards a police officer and a crowd of people that had formed at the end of the street.

"She's got a concussion, take her...take her to a hospital. And tell the other officers to form a perimeter, i-isolate the street, make sure no one else gets near that thing," Matt instructs the officer out of breath. His head feels light and he stumbles over, the officer kept him steady.

The red-clad teen heard the click of a jaw, "Everyone, get down!" he yelled out to the crowd, grabbing the officer and pulling him onto the ground with him. Black Canary let out a sonic blast from her mouth, directed at the android. The power of the cry caused cars to fly off of the ground and bits of concrete to chip off of the road.

The humanoid machine was pushed over a hundred feet back. It stood up, dazed as it's sensors were overloaded by the 'Canary Cry.' The androids eyes glow an even brighter red and it gazes at Canary for some time.

" _Accessing: Black Canary,_ " the machine said after finishing its scan. It opened its mouth and a sonic scream was emitted from it. The blonde heroine let out another cry of her own and the two sonic blasts meet, cancelling each other out, resulting in almost every window shattering throughout the entire block.

The crowd started to panic as they pushed people away and even trampled over others to evade the falling shards. Matt leapt towards an old man who couldn't understand what was happening and shielded him from some large, knife-like shards, his armour protecting him and the elderly man. The teenagers ears were ringing from the blast and he felt like he was being prodded by hot needles.

Green Arrow fired an arrow at the android's mouth and covered it with some form of explosive. "I'm calling in some backup," he said as Dinah tried to engage in hand to hand combat with the machine, fairing somewhat better than Matt did.

Daredevil and the police were doing their best to direct the public away from the fighting in an orderly manner, but Matt knew this was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **Metropolis, August 3rd, 2010:**

"We talked about this. You need to distribute your weight evenly when you land. You could have destabilized the entire bridge," Superman said kindly to his son, giving him a smile. Superboy just frowned in disappointment, "I know, I know. It's just hard, figuring out how much effort I need to put into doing something," the clone said.

Clark remembered when he was Superboy's age. He almost broke his friend, Chloe's hand when he high fived her once. "We'll figure it out. How about the usual spot… hold on. Superman speaking. Arrow? Wait slow down, what's attacking? Co-ordinates. I'll be there," he said firmly on his earpiece.

The man of tomorrow looked at his son awkwardly, "Raincheck?" he asked. Superboy just shrugged, he barely had any time to spend with him anyway. Superman flew off and Superboy looked at him with a mixture of awe and jealousy, not knowing if he would ever be worthy of the 'S' on his chest.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Sunday, August 3rd, 2010:**

" _Accessing: Martian Manhunter,_ " the machine said as Flash tried to rush it. It turned translucent and the scarlet speedster simply ran through it. " _Accessing: Superman,_ " it said as it heard the Man of Steel come towards it. He grabbed the Kryptonian and spun him around, hitting Red Tornado and Captain Atom in the process. Eight members of the Justice League were fighting the android for hours but their efforts proved disastrous. With each new combatant the android simply had a new power to copy and use in combat, making it more difficult to defeat.

Matt knew he would be useless fighting that thing as it was so he directed his energy into helping the police maintain order in Hell's Kitchen. The situation was dire; New York wasn't accustomed to attacks of this scale and panic was spreading on the street.

Rioters were looting, gangsters roamed the streets and used the confusion to attack and kill those they held grudges against and regular people were running in fear. Matt spent the past few hours trying to subdue the looters and gang members but there were too many to handle. He couldn't fight them off and keep the civilians safe simultaneously. The police formed blockades and brought in riot control. Daredevil somehow convinced the captain not to use tear gas, out of fear that it would simply aggravate the innocents caught in the conflict.

A large energy blast was emitted from the android's palm, aimed directly at Batman, who was issuing orders to the Leaguers. The Flash run up to where he was and moved him out of the way, but the beam hit an old building, causing it to go alight.

Matt witnessed in horror, as he felt the heat of the fire spread to the buildings nearby.

The next half hour was spent by the blind hero giving directions to the firefighters, aiding in rescuing the people within the buildings and telling them where to aim their hoses to midgate the flames the fastest. "Help, help me please," a middle-aged woman pleaded to a police officer who moved her aside to aid his partner.

"Ma'am," Matt said as he leapt down to where she was. "My nephew, he's still in there. Oh God, just please, please help him," she cried out, pointing to a small three-story building. Matt drowned out all the screaming and shouting of the people around him and focused. He heard wood expanding, smelt plastic burning and wires incinerating. But amongst that cacophony he heard the unmistakable heartbeat of a child.

Matt grappled onto the window ledge of the third floor of the building and entered. He coughed as he inhaled smoke as black and thick as the flames of hell itself. He started crawling on the ground with his hands and knees where the air was the least polluted and started to breathe in a more shallow manner. He focused on the young boy's heartbeat and discovered it was inside what seemed to be a wardrobe inside a room. Matt kicked down the door to the house and did the same to the room where the boy was.

The young child had brown hair and wide, teary eyes that stared at the person in red, emerging from the flames. The red silhouette of the Devil himself. The young boy screamed in panic, and ran out of the room past Matt. He cursed himself for not thinking the kid would get scared looking at him when the building was on fire and ran after him.

The boy ran across the corridor, towards the stairs but stopped when he heard the wooden floor beneath him creak. He shouted out loud as his feet fell through the floor and he started plummeting down. The fire below seemed to be getting closer by the second but much to his surprise he stopped falling. He felt something holding him by the waist. The child ran his fingers along what felt like a metal cable, encircling his hip.

He looked up and saw Daredevil, groaning in pain as he tried to lift the kid up but to no avail. "I can't lift you up from this angle," he said. The boy then noticed that the vigilante was prone on the ground, the hero's arm looked like it was barely able to hold his weight.

"I need you to climb up," Matt shouted out. The child shook his head, too afraid to comply to the order. Matt let out a disgruntled noise through his teeth and took off his helmet with his free hand. "Look. I'm just a normal guy. What's your name?" he asked in kind but hurried tone.

The boy looked at Matt with surprise, not expecting a teenager behind the mask. "Peter. Um… Peter Parker," he said nervously. Ignoring the increasing heat around him Matt smiled, "Love the alliteration, you're, like, what- ten? You're old enough to climb this rope, Peter. Come on, Daredevil needs you," Matt said, hoping to God above that his corny line would work.

Peter looks at Matt's face and a new resolve filled his heart. He grasped the cable and started climbing, feeling his skin blister whenever he changed his grip on the hot cable. "You're doing great," Matt said as Peter was now just a foot below him.

Matt made every effort not to breathe too deeply and tensed his muscles as he lifted the now much closer Peter up onto the ground. Both boys were coughing profusely but Matt smiled at the young child, patting him on the head. "Good job, good job," he said as he put on his helmet. Peter was already on his hands and knees and offered a bit of torn cloth from his shirt to Matt to breathe through.

'Smart kid,' Matt thought to himself as he crawled alongside Peter towards the open window, the only source of light. Peter was wondering why Daredevil's eyes looked so weird but his train of thought ended when they both heard a familiar creaking below them.

Matt stood up instantly and threw the smaller boy a few feet in front of him. He fell through the floor but used his remaining reserves of strength to hand on tight to the broken floor. The teenager thought about his father and the way his body burned in the police car. The way he died because he fought for what was right. How his mother was put into a coma for the same reason. 'Maybe it's time,' he thought.

'Time for me to see them again,' he continued, feeling his body go limp.

But he didn't fall into the inferno below. A small pair of hands wouldn't allow him to. Matt shook his head and heard Peter's heart racing and felt his breath against his face. 'I can't die yet, dad. This kid still needs me,' he thought to himself as he lifted himself onto the wooden floor.

He picked Peter up and ignored his body's pleas to stop and rest, running purely on adrenaline. He ran out of the window before the floor could give way any further, grappled onto a nearby lamppost and slowly lowered himself down to the ground.

Matt heard a pair of footsteps come towards him. He felt Peter being taken from his arms by the woman from earlier and felt the embrace of a strong old man. "Thank you. Thank you so much," the man said as he kissed Peter, his nephew, on the cheek.

His armour was almost black due to the soot, which rubbed off onto the man. Matt simply nodded and walked away, the sounds of the rioting and chaos entering his ears again. He then heard a man screaming in the building neighbouring the one in which he saved Peter. The smell of burning flesh entered his nostrils. He felt so helpless. Another life he failed to save.

He thought of the girl he helped at the beginning of the fight and how he couldn't save her family. He knew what losing people like that felt like. The man who burnt alive in that building, what if he had family. What if Peter had died today. How many have to suffer?

No more, Matt decided. Not on his watch.

Daredevil could smell the gunpowder of a revolver nearby. He walked towards the police officer who had the weapon holstered and took it. He then climbed on top of a police van and started firing in the middle of the air, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Listen up. This is our neighbourhood. Our homes. We. Are. Better. Than this!" he said out loud, making the crowd lower their heads in shame. Even the criminals had hearts after all. "The fires are spreading and the fire department can't stop them alone. So if any of you people want roofs over your heads tomorrow and the day after that, start helping."

One man came forward, "I have buckets. Let's get those hydrants open," he said. Some people followed him into his shop to help him. Daredevil was handed a monkey wrench by a Yakuza. They nodded at each other, understanding that they wouldn't fight today.

Matt struck the water hydrant and water started pouring out of it. The people with buckets started filling them up. A nurse offered to help an injured woman get to the drug store, were they would have access to basic medical supplies.

Peter wanted to do his part and he filled a bucket. Seeing him struggle to shift its weight, Matt held out his hand, offering to carry it for him. The teenager winks at him and Peter smiles, handing the filled bucket to Daredevil.

For over an hour everyone on the street helped the sick, old and injured to safety. They helped firefighters put out the flames and helped cops distribute supplies.

Peter's Aunt even offered Matt some wheat cake, whatever that was.

Seeing everyone work together to save the city made Matt swell up in absolute joy. But he knew there was another struggle to be had.

He finished off his wheat cake and made his way towards the epicentre of this conflict.

* * *

Batman was equal parts relieved and stressed. The relief came in the form of Matt stopping the civilians from panicking and hurting themselves, he was especially surprised when he saw the young hero rallying the troops, so to speak,making them help the authorities with the mess at hand.

The stress came from commanding his own troops on how to restrict the conflict into one, relatively small area when they were fighting against a machine that had all their abilities. Black Canary had hurt her shoulder, though she was still able to fight and Green Arrow had run out of ammunition half an hour ago.

He saw Matt swinging towards him out of the corner of his eye but kept his concentration on the android. "You guys any closer to beating that thing?" Matt asks between breaths. Bruce looked at him with concern but shrugged that feeling off. "It follows a somewhat predictable pattern. He prefers using Superman's strength for the most part. But when he feels he can't win in a head-on confrontation he uses Martian Manhunter's powers to phase through them and escape. Captain Atom's, Red Tornado's and Black Canary's powers are used as ranged attacks and he uses Flash's speed to close the distance," Batman said, his brief yet descriptive report on the androids patterns impressed Matt greatly.

" _Accessing: Superman,_ " the machine said, grappling with the Man of Steel. "Woah. Did you notice that?" Matt asked, pointing to the android. Batman looked at him, his lack of a response was Matt's cue to elaborate.

"When it used Superman's powers it's like its skin or surface or whatever changed completely. It started absorbing solar radiation and its density just increased in an instant. Even M'gann can't transform like that," he said, observing the android more intently.

" _Accessing: Martian Manhunter,_ " it said as Captain Atom's punch went right through it's face, with the android using the Martian's density shifting ability.

"His entire structure just mimicked a martian's almost perfectly," Matt said, who spent enough time with Miss Martian to recognise her species' physiology. "Maybe we could...no way. That'd never work," Matt muttered to himself.

Batman turned to face him, "I am open to suggestions," he said bluntly. Matt coughed, "Well this idea is never gonna work. Not unless you have some kryptonite in that belt of yours," the teenager said jokingly. The Dark Knight stared at him, expressionless.

Matt's jaw lowered in disbelief. "You're joking."

* * *

The android, accessing Red Tornado's powers was creating red twisters to keep the heroes at bay. It noticed Superman rushing towards him for the forty-seventh time. " _Accessing: Superman_ ," it said, ready to make battle with the Kryptonian once more. But Superman didn't make contact with it.

Flash, ran around the machine, pouring oil from a jerry can, making a circle that surrounding it. Superman closed his eyes and opened them wide, letting a burst of heat vision exit them, hitting the android in the chest.

Captain Atom let loose a stream of energy towards the left of the android, Red Tornado launched a twister towards its right and Black Canary let loose a scream at its back. The mechanical menace could barely move, the combined assault was too much for it to manage.

" _Accessing: Martian Manhunter,"_ it said, letting all of their attacks pass through them. They stop the barrage and Superman ignites the ring of oil with his heat vision, causing the android to fall to its knees. Its internal mechanics were failing, the martian artificial physiology was unable to withstand the flame. " _Accessing: Superman_ ," it said, standing back up, now immune to the flames.

It heard something fly towards him. It turned around and caught the object, an arrow. The tip of the arrow had a cylindrical case, which opened up when the android caught it. A bright green light emitted from the projectile and it once again collapsed to the ground. His systems were now failing, unable to execute even the most basic subroutines.

" _Accessing: ..."_ it started to say but stopped abruptly. "No you don't," the Flash said as he vibrates his hand through the androids chest and pulled out it's central power supply. The speedster takes away the kryptonite and runs towards Batman. Superman quickly rushes in and rips off the head of the machine, making it fall to the ground for good.

The rest of the League walked towards the decapitated machine, with Green Arrow beckoning for Matt to come down.

The crowd saw the fallen machine and with the flames now more or less extinguished they were finally safe. They started to applaud as the heroes just smiled. Matt put his hands behind his back and shook his foot nervously, he wasn't used to such open admiration.

Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado took the android to STAR labs to be examined, Black Canary and Green Arrow thanked Daredevil sincerely for his idea and went to get medical attention for themselves. Superman and the Flash stayed behind to help clear up the debris from the fight.

The blue boy scout spent time talking to the press, the people and first responders. Flash ran people to the hospital and Batman stayed in the shadows, he wasn't needed for this.

Matt searched for the officer he handed the girl to. He needed to know if she was safe. After a few minutes he heard his heartbeat and started talking to the officer. He said that the Flash had taken her to a nearby hospital just moments ago.

The teenager took a pained breath as he prepared to ask the policeman the next question. "What was her name?" he asked. "I don't think that..." the officer said but Matt pleaded with him. "I just want to know. Please?" he asked.

The police officer dusted his cap and looked down. "Her name's Jessica. Jessica Jones," he said.

Matt thanked the officer and walked away, feeling guilty that Jessica was now an orphan. Superman flew towards Matt and gently placed his hand on the teenagers shoulder. "You did good work today son. All these people would probably not be here if it weren't for you and your quick thinking," he said as he tried to console Matt.

"This job. We try and save as many people as we can, but sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. And if we can't find a way to live with that, next time maybe nobody gets saved," Superman said in a solemn tone. He knew what it was like to feel guilty for not being able to save someone, he still felt it. But he accepts it now, and he knew Matt had to as well.

Superman gave Matt a hug and flew away, headed to STAR Labs. Batman calls Daredevil up to where he was and the blind hero acquiesced. Matt took off his soot-covered helmet and coughed again. "Why? Why did it come here? Who built that thing?" he asked Batman on the verge of tears.

"We don't know yet. Calm down, you need to rest," Batman said. Matt shook his head, "How do you do this? How do fight things like that and not feel powerless? If the League never got here I'd be dead and that thing would have killed everyone!" Matt yelled out, expelling his frustrations.

Batman looked down at Matt. "If it weren't for your observational skills and power set it would have taken significantly longer to destroy the android. I don't even have meta-class powers. If I can function as a significant member of the League, then so can you," he told Matt with a deep and sincere tone.

"Wait? You're saying I'm going to be member of the Justice League when I'm older?" Matt asks Bruce in confusion.

"No. One day, you're going to _lead_ it," the older hero said.

Matt had a blank look on his face, unable to process what he had just heard. His head felt light and he could feel blood trickling from his nose. He fell to the ground, succumbing to his wounds.

* * *

 **Gotham City, August 3rd, 2010:**

Matt twitched his fingers and tilted his head. He felt like he was moving inside a swimming pool. His entire body was submerged in a warm liquid, his breathing was accommodated via a breathing mask. He opened his eyes and the liquid didn't sting them, if anything they were more relaxed.

He stretched out his hand and felt a glass pane in front of him. He tapped it and felt the vibrations, realising he was in some sort of cylindrical chamber. Matt heard some mechanical whirring and the liquid started to drain. The glass door opened and Matt removed the mask and stepped out, his body still wet from the liquid.

"I must say sir. I was not expecting your recovery to be so expedient," a man with a posh British accent said, handing Matt a towel. He smiled, "Thanks Alfred," he said as he dried his body and wrapped the towel around his waist. He's been in various states of undress in front of him a few times since the butler usually patches him up when he visits Gotham, he's used to situations like this by now.

Matt felt better than he had in months. His joints weren't aching, his muscles weren't burning and his head was clear. It's almost like he took a month off and just meditated the whole time. "Master Bruce synthesised this liquid from samples of a Lazarus pit," Alfred said in a matter of fact tone.

"A what?" Matt asked. "I suppose that is irrelevant. I set the machine to focus on healing your internal wounds, this might have extended to older injuries that never healed properly. Hence, your current state of health," Alfred said, noticing how relaxed Matt felt.

"However, the scars on your skin haven't faded. I could set the chamber to heal those as well but the resources for the liquid are rare and Master Bruce only sees fit to use them under emergency situations," Alfred continued. Matt traced his fingers along the scars on his body, grateful for Bruce's concern.

The teenager laughs, "It's fine Al. These scars are like memories. Reminders of past mistakes," Matt said. Alfred sighed, "You and Master Bruce have far too much in common sir," he said in a tired tone. The old Butler handed Matt a case, and some fresh clothes on top of that.

"I took the liberty of cleaning and repairing your armour. I've informed your brother of your location and I also found some of Master Bruce's old clothes when he was around your age. I hope you will accept my tardiness, they were the only ones I could find that seemed to fit," Alfred said, bowing down to Matt.

Matt smiled at the butler. "That's alright Alfred. More than alright, brilliant. Thanks," he said moving behind a giant rock as he started to change.

"So I'm guessing this is the Bat Cave?" Matt asks as he put on the shirt over his head. "And what makes you say that sir?" Alfred asks rhetorically. "You know. All the bats," Matt said pointing up, his echolocation going into overdrive with the hundreds of bats on the roof of the cave.

"And I thought Batman was the detective," Alfred said sarcastically. Matt chuckled, realising how much he missed the old butlers wit.

Suitcase in hand, Matt followed Alfred upstairs to the inside of Wayne Manor. The butler offered Matt some food and he graciously accepted, as he hadn't eaten all day. Bruce had gone to the cave to debrief the team. This disappointed Matt slightly since he wanted to talk to him about the bombshell he told Matt earlier.

The blind teen heard his earpiece beeping. Matt sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, "Yeah?" he asked. "Hey Matt, you ok?" Robin asked. Matt could hear an engine in the background and the air passing the boy wonders ear. "I am. What's going on?" Matt asked.

"You know, the usual. Monkey robots stole that android, Amazo's parts. Superboy and Wally got their asses kicked by Black Canary and Wally hit on her," Robin said in a semi-jovial tone. "Dude," Wally whined, running alongside Dick who was on the bike.

Matt put his hand to his brow, "Please tell me that thing hasn't been rebuilt," he said. "Um...you're so not going to feel the astor. Yep, it's back," Robin said. Not understanding the inside reference Matt hit his head in frustration. "Where do you need me?" Matt asked.

"Go to Gotham Academy ASAP. Sending you the coordinates," the boy wonder said.

The blind teenager cut the call and turned to Alfred. "Any chance you know if Bruce has any spare kryptonite?"

* * *

"Please don't be dead," Matt muttered to himself as he swung towards the school, making his way from the nearest Zeta platform. Eight experienced heroes took over four hours to beat that thing, he had no idea how his team would manage. From what Robin told him Kid Flash and Superboy were the only ones accompanying him in the fight with Amazo, the rest were too far to help them.

Matt barely remembered Gotham's layout but he didn't need to, he just needed to go where the explosions were. As if on cue, he heard a sonic scream a block away from his current location. "Well, that was easy," he said as he rushed over on the city's old roof gargoyle statues.

"What the hell?" the red-clad hero asks himself as he witnessed something he wasn't expecting. A young, teenage girl with an arrow and quiver being lifted up by at least four monkey bots. Matt readied his Billy club to aid her but to his surprise she stabs the two constricting her left side with an arrow and she used a small crossbow to destroy the other two.

She let out a small cry as she started plummeting to the ground below. Matt leapt into action and grappled upwards and caught the girl. He rolled forward so that his back would break the window, his armoured body covering the girl. His landing however wasn't the most elegant as he lost his footing and fell flat on the floor, the teenage girl rolled forward and drew her bow and fired an arrow at Matt.

In the blink of an eye, Daredevil got into a crouched position and caught the arrow, mere millimeters away from his face. The girl gasped as she realised that she could have killed Daredevil of all people.

She had blonde hair and was of average height. Her hair was in a ponytail that reached her waist and she wore a costume that had various shades of green, with a lighter green arrowhead emblazoning her chest. Her midriff was bare and she had mask that extended from her airline to her cheekbones.

Matt didn't recognise her and couldn't say if she was friend or foe, so he dropped the arrow and stood up, raising his hand to his hips, ready to fight if necessary. He threw his Billy club at her and she ducked but the projectile hit a monkey bot behind her. The teenagers found themselves surrounded by these machines and they knew where they stood.

The archer fired three arrows at once into three monkey bots towards the side and Matt ricochets his Billy club against the remaining monkey's jetpacks. They fought back to back, the girl taking out the ones further away and Matt took down the ones that were mid-range. 'She's good, really good. Who trained her?' he asks himself as she did a flip and hit a monkey midair.

When the dust settled both teens were surrounded by robot parts, their eyes flickering on and off. Amazo grabbed Wally on the PE room below them, with Matt and the archer standing on the floor atop the bleachers. The blonde archer drew an arrow and fired it at the androids head.

" _Accessing: Martian Manhunter,_ " Amazo said as it let Kid Flash go and reduced its density, allowing the arrow to pass through its head. Superboy ran forward and drove his fist through its face as it accessed Superman's powers. Amazo, now solid had Superboy's near indestructible fist inside of it's head.

Sparks flew out and the head blew up making the rest of Amazo's body fell down, oil leaking out of the massive hole in its neck. Matt noticed a short, dwarf-like man in a tweed sweater and with faded orange hair. The blonde archer was staring at the team, especially Superboy, which didn't go unnoticed by Matt.

She stepped forward, as if she wanted to go down and meet them. But she clenched her teeth and grasped her bow tightly. She slowly started to back away. Matt could feel her confliction by the flutter of her heartbeat. He tapped her shoulder, making her flinch. 'Jesus. Forgot he was here. Wait, if he's with them...how old is he?' she asks herself. The archer jumps out of the window, not wanting Daredevil to know anything else about her.

Matt smirked, he knew he could find her if he wanted to. He leaped down next to the Android and shook Superboy in ecstasy. "I should have just called you when that thing came to New York," Matt told the Kryptonian. Superboy raised his brow, not used to seeing Daredevil so pleased. Aqualad and Miss Martian reached the rest of the team.

"Who's that guy?" Matt asked as Robin restrained the diminutive man in the sweater. "Meet Professor Ivo, the _genius_ who made that," Dick said, sarcastically spitting out the word genius whilst pointing to what remained of Amazo.

Upon hearing that information any feelings of elation drained away from Matt. He stomped towards Ivo and lifted him off of the ground by his throat, choking him in the process. The small man hit Matt's arms to try and release his grip on him and his legs were kicking about frantically.

"M-Mercy," Ivo squealed out as his face started turning red. "Your machine didn't show Jessica's family any," Matt said coldly, his voice was void of any emotion. The current scenario was making the rest of the team extremely worried.

Robin slowly put his hands towards his belt but Aqualad raised his hand, making the boy wonder stop. "Please, d-don't kill me," Ivo begged, struggling to form words with such shallow breath. The vigilante growled at the scientist, "I never would." Matt stated.

Matt wanted him to be a monster, a vicious creature that didn't deserve to draw breath but Ivo wasn't that. He was just a sad old man with a broken mind and wasn't worth the effort.

Or at least he hoped he wasn't.

"Rob restrain him. Miss M, accompany him. Kid and Superboy, gather every scrap of monkey robot and android you can. Aqualad, oversee them and give a report to the League when they get here," Matt ordered. Everyone acknowledged their new roles and got to work, they knew they would get to talk to Daredevil in a more appropriate setting.

"Where is it you're going?" Kaldur asked politely. Matt launched a line from his club, "I have an archer to track."

* * *

Artemis Crock has seen some weird things the past few weeks in the hero gig but literal flying monkeys and a team of teenaged heroes beating a giant robot that almost beat the Justice League would definitely top the list. If there was one.

'What if they find me? What if they find mom?' she asks herself mentally panicking as she changed into her pyjamas. Her room was small with two beds, the walls adorned with various posters of Alice in Wonderland, her and her sisters favourite story. Though she hasn't been inside this house for sometime.

The blonde archer peers out of her window, making sure no one had followed her. She squinted her eyes, swearing that she saw something on the roof of the other building. She put on a robe and took out her small crossbow. She then leapt out of her window and climbed the opposing building, after about a minute she made her way to the top and aimed her crossbow.

But after she scanned the area she couldn't spot anything. Artemis retreated back into her room and closed the shutters.

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. "Batman, Arrow. I'm sending you the coordinates of our archer girl."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, Sunday, August 3rd, 2010:**

Father Lantom pulled the cloth over his face in an attempt to dampen the scent of the sick and injured in the cathedral. He hasn't seen people in such a state since 9/11. But the Church has a duty to shelter those in need and he had seen worse in Rwanda during one of his missions. The elderly man was giving instructions to a handful of nuns but he spotted a face in the crowd that he would always recognise.

"Mathew," he called out, hurrying towards the young teenager. "Are you hurt?" he asked as he examined the boys head. Matt shook his head and waved the priest's hand away. "I'm fine father," he said quietly, hearing all the cries of pain of the people inside. Men and women coughing out soot, children with broken bones and burnt skin. Pain, so many were in pain. But he also heard a woman offer a man she never knew her blanket to keep warm, children baking a cake for their friend who was injured. Complete strangers helping each other even after the crisis was over.

"Adversity can help bring out the best of us. It's a shame that we need to go through so much just to treat each other like decent human beings," Father Lantom lamented. "My aunt was in England during the Blitz. Eight months, eight months the Nazis bombed the streets of London at night, trying to reduce British morale. But if anything, the bombings had the opposite effect. It brought the people of the city closer together, gave them a sense of purpose and comradery. The human spirit, it's indomitable," the old priest said with pride in his eyes.

Matt tapped his cane, thinking of how to inadvertently ask his question. "Say, hypothetically. That you could go back in time. Say you could have stopped world war two from happening. Stop the Blitz, the Holocaust, all that suffering. Would you?" he asked, making the priest have a look of contemplation. "And in this hypothetical scenario, how would you suggest I stop all of that?" he asked the teenager rhetorically.

"Take out the source. Get rid of Hitler, if you could would you?" Matt asked.

Father Lantom rubbed his shoulder, "Let's say I did. We get rid of Hitler before he joins the Nazi party. We stop him from ruling over Germany and starting the biggest war in history. If we did that then we never would have gotten the atomic bomb, nuclear energy would probably not have progressed as much as it did. The Germans would never have invented their weaponised rockets, their scientists would never have fled to America. Therefore we never would have set a man to the moon. NATO and the UN might never have existed, the British Empire might not have collapsed. You kill Hitler and save millions, but are future generations better off for it? Who knows," he said, looking at the statue of Jesus at the back of the Cathedral.

"So if you had your hands around the throat of the monster who made that android, you wouldn't hurt him. You wouldn't even be tempted to...to kill him, even after seeing all of this?" he asks impatiently. The old priest looks at Matt and smiles. He guides him towards one of the nuns using a tablet. "Can I borrow that?" Father Lantom asks, the nun nodded and hands him the device.

Matt heard him slowly type something on the surface of it's screen. "Researchers at STAR labs state that the technology within the android designated as 'Amazo' can aid their research into various projects. Including artificial limbs, tissue regeneration; including, I think you'll like this, optic nerve rejuvenation," he said, switching the tablet off.

"I heard a family died after that thing attacked. That's a tragedy. Feeling anger and sadness after witnessing such horrors are normal, it's part of being human. But, I feel that learning to not succumb to those feelings makes us better people. Better than those who want to spread those emotions through chaos," the old priest said.

Matt turned his head to him with a shocked look. "I never said I was there when they died," he said. Father Lantom looked up another article, "Professor Ivo, the alleged creator of the super-powered android known as Amazo was apprehended today at Gotham High. He claims that he will sue whomever he deems responsible for the supposed abuse he suffered at the hands of New York's resident superhero, Daredevil," he finished in a whisper.

"The constant injuries, our odd meetings and with what you said right now, it was only a matter of time before I found out Matthew. I have no idea how you do what it is you do but I can say, with the utmost confidence that your father would be proud of you," the priest said, making Matt freeze.

"I saw you fight that thing and save that girl. The whole Kitchen saw you lead the people and stop the fires. All the suffering you have endured and you welcome even more to save others. It's not my place to say whether that's a just arrangement but I can offer you this piece of advice. See the girl you saved. Get some closure, it might help you and her," he said clasping Matt's hands.

The red-headed teen looked down and walked away without saying a word. He didn't want Father Lantom to see his tears.

* * *

Jessica Jones stared at her ruined phone screen with a blank face. She tried to see if she could find any pictures of her and her family but it was too damaged to do anything. The pale skinned girl was skinny and had raven black hair. She felt her ribs and discovered that they were almost healed, she remembered the doctor saying that they were broken just a few hours ago. How could they be healing so quickly?

"The fuck did they do to me?" she asks herself. "Made you a lot better by the looks of it," Matt said from the shadows, practically making Jessica jump. "Shh, it's fine. It's me," Matt said with his normal voice, despite being in his armour.

Jessica rolled her eyes and put her hand to her head, "Did you have to do that?" she asks. Matt gave her an apologetic shrug. "You seem to be doing a lot better," he said, sitting beside her on her bedside. Usually Jessica would punch someone in the nose for getting this close but Daredevil saved her life. She figured he was probably just checking in on her. 'Not like you could hit him anyway,' she thought.

"Apparently, some guys came over and covered my insurance. Injected me with something to make me heal faster or whatever. Hurt like a bitch but it's working," she said, not even caring if anyone else heard her swear.

Matt gave a small smile, he wondered who would be generous enough to do that. "I'm sorry Jessica. It's my fault your family are… I don't know how to..." he started but she stopped him. "It's all over YouTube, you fought that thing. You almost died doing it. You saved me. Don't you dare feel sorry for yourself, you don't deserve that," she said amidst tears. She sat up and gave Matt a tearful hug, "Thank you," she kept muttering out, displaying far more emotion than she's done in years.

He hugged her back, fighting back tears of his own. The guilt would never go away, but Jessica was alive. The hope that she's going to live a good and happy life made Matt feel like he was walking on air. He let go, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable. He was about to leave through the window till she yelped out.

"Can you stay. Please. I really don't want to be alone tonight," she said hugging herself and rolling into a ball. Matt understood what she was going through, after the attack on his parents him and his brother cried together for the entire night. She had no family left but she could make due with him for a night.

"Of course," he said kindly, pulling up a chair. He removed his glove and gently placed his hand on hers, the warmth comforted Jessica more than she ever expected. She felt almost peaceful for the first time the whole night. She didn't really believe in God but right now she thanked whoever was up there for this one moment of sanity.

* * *

 **That's a wrap.**

 **I name dropped Peter Parker and Jessica Jones. They aren't going to be used in season one. If I do season two then I've got plans for them.**

 **I hope you guys liked the changes I made to the episode and the next chapter will be Artemis' debut on the team.**

 **Thanks for all the people who commented, followed and favorited my story for the past year. It really keeps me going. It makes me happy to see that my first story is being enjoyed, so thanks for reading.**

 **Until next time.**

 **See you!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Infiltrator:**

 **Happy Harbour, August 7th, 2010:**

The sun was shining brightly in Happy Harbour, with god-like rays of light serenading the area. White seagulls were flying across a cloudless blue sky and the air smelled like salt water. The team had decided to go to the beach near the cave for the first time. Matt had forgotten it even existed till M'gann suggested that they all go there.

"Hello Megan, we should go to the beach more often!" she exclaimed, hitting her head. The boys were wearing swimming trunks and she morphed herself into a two-piece, yellow bikini. Matt and Dick still wore their sunglasses but this time at least they had a normal reason to wear them. "But first, a moment of silence for our dear departed friend," Robin said with an almost sincere tone, bowing his head.

"Yeah. Poor guy," Matt said. Wally's school was the first to re-open after the summer, so while they were planning a relaxing day on the beach, he would have to listen to boring lectures with the attention span of a speedster.

Matt closed his eyes and spread his arms out wide. He loved the way the cool, ocean air blew against his skin. The scent and sound of the water calms his nerves down immensely. Granted, he wished the gulls would just fly away somewhere else, but he wouldn't let a few birds ruin his day.

"You sure you don't need _that_ looked at?" Superboy asks, pointing at a bruise that was healing on Matt's chest. "It's fine, man. I've had worse," Matt said. Seeing all the scars on the red head's body, Superboy had no doubt in believing the previous statement.

The two hear a small splash in the water. "The water is at optimal temperature. Come in," Kaldur said, waving his arms, inviting his friends to join. Dick smirks and cartwheels towards the waves. When he was closer he performs two somersaults and lands next to Kaldur, lightly splashing the Atlantean.

M'gann slowly sets herself down into the water with her telekinesis, not wanting to disturb the two boys with a splash. Matt didn't have this concern however and ran towards the water at full speed and jumped in with his limbs splayed out and made the biggest splash yet.

Not wanting to be outdone Superboy burrowed his feet deep into the sand and jumped dozens of feet into the air, forming a small sand cloud from where he stood. The clone rolled himself into a ball as he plummeted down where the other four were. Matt moved the others out of the way as Superboy fell into the water like a cannonball, resulting in a wave that washed his friends to shore.

After they got over the initial shock the five started laughing, the four get back in with Superboy and start splashing him. Dick and Matt tried to dunk him into the water but the Kryptonian just shrugs them off like flies and they fall back into the water.

They spend the rest of the day just messing around. They cooked sausages over a fire, which Matt insisted he start it 'the old fashioned way,' which involved him using a knife and lint over kindling for an hour, much to his teammates' annoyance. They buried Superboy in the sand, tried catching Kaldur in the water (which required M'gann using her telekinesis), and in the end, just laid down and talked.

Matt felt the sun lowering and reminded everyone to bring their stuff back to the cave. The boys showered in the cave to get the salt and sand off of their bodies, though Kaldur didn't think that he needed to. They changed into their costumes and started to spar.

Daredevil was going to Black Canary's place for the evening as a trainer, seeing as he was the best fighter in the team, though knowing how to fight did not guarantee that you would be a good teacher. He tried giving the whole team a set drill which didn't work at all, seeing as though the other four teenagers had completely different physiologies. Superboy almost launched himself into the roof after trying to do a push-up.

He then decided to go the boring route and just sparred with each of them one at a time. He called Miss Martian first but she lasted only a few seconds since hand-to-hand combat wasn't her cup of tea. Robin decided to pass since Matt usually won when they sparred in the past.

Kaldur volunteered next. The holographic display was up, ready to log and score the moves of the fight. The Atlantean knew that even though he was less skilled a fighter, he was much stronger than Matt, and he planned to use that to his advantage. Aqualad lowered his stance and ran towards Matt. The red-clad hero simply leapt over him and kicked Kaldur to the ground, making the computer give points to Matt.

Kaldur got up and threw a right hook. Matt ducked and used a palm strike to the Atlantean's chin which made him fall again. This continued for some time till Aqualad conceded defeat since he knew he would tire himself out before he landed a hit on Daredevil.

Superboy uncrossed his arms and readied himself to fight. Matt found the clones stance amusing, "You're vulnerable in five different ways," he said in a mocking manner. The clone breathed hard, trying to control his anger, having learned his lesson after fighting Amazo. The stronger teenager rushed Matt who sidestepped him. The Kryptonian punched thin air as Matt just walked backwards with his hands behind his back. Daredevil lowered himself and performed a leg sweep on Superboy, knocking him down. Matt couldn't really hurt him physically but Superboy's ego was bruised.

The clone muttered incoherently as the holographic ring disappeared. Matt helped him up and heard the zeta platforms activate. Batman, Red Tornado and Green Arrow entered the cave but the blind teenager heard another heartbeat. One he was familiar with.

The blonde archer walked beside Green Arrow, "Ok, um. Everyone, this is..." He started but was cut off when Zeta platform was activated again.

Wally entered the cave wearing swim trunks, carrying an umbrella and beach ball. "The wall man is here," he said out loud before tripping on his umbrella and falling on his face. The ball bounced across the cave, passing Batman and Red Tornado, almost hitting the former in the head.

"Wall man, huh. Love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" the female archer asked in a snarky manner to the speedster. Wally walks next to Robin and Daredevil, "Uhh, who's this?"

"Artemis, your new teammate," the archer said in a matter of fact tone. "Kid Flash. Never heard of you," he said, raising an eyebrow. Artemis frowned, annoyed by his response. Green Arrow puts his hand on her shoulder. "She's my new protege," he said, smiling.

Wally looks at the older hero and asks, "What happened to the old one?" The zeta platform activates moments after he asked that and its artificial voice announces the new arrival. " **RECOGNIZED-SPEEDY, B06.** "

Roy Harper walks in the cave with a new costume. It was predominantly black, with a red chest and collar. His quiver is now attached with two gray shoulder straps connected across the chest, and his black gloves are fingerless. "Well, for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow," he said.

"Wow, really original," Matt said in a deadpanned voice, making Red Arrow glare at him. The rest of the team, adults included, were stunned by his surprise appearance. "Roy, you look..." Green Arrow started.

Roy turned his head to face Artemis, "Replaceable?" he asked rhetorically. Oliver opened his arms, "It's not like that. You told me you were going solo." The former sidekick walked closer to the other two archers. "So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?" he asks, somewhat offended that Oliver found someone so young to replace him.

"Yes, she can," Artemis responded, staring Roy in the eye. "Who are you?" Wally asks, making Artemis give him a vexing look.

"I'm his niece." "She's my niece." Artemis and Green Arrow said at the same time.

Matt knew that wasn't the truth but he elected to keep his mouth shut since that was what was what he had agreed with Artemis, Batman and Green Arrow. She knew that Daredevil had knowledge of her less than stellar parents and their villainous past but for lack of a better option she trusted him.

Robin crossed his arms and smirked, "Another niece," he asked, sarcastically. Matt elbowed him in the shoulder to make him shut up. Kaldur stepped forward, "But she is not your replacement. We have always wanted you on the team, and there is no quota on archers," the Atlantean said in a friendly tone.

Wally spoke next, "Yeah, and even if there were, you know who we'd pick." Matt continued to remain silent. He was the leader of the team and he wouldn't even consider adding Roy among their ranks. He was rude, impulsive and despised authority. Matt doubted he would take orders from him even if their lives depended on it. Which it probably would.

"Whatever, Baywatch. I'm here to stay," Artemis responded to Wally, shrugging her shoulders. "Any reason you came here, Roy?" Matt asked in a neutral tone, so as to mask his distaste for the red-haired archer. "Yeah, a reason named Doctor Sterling Rouquette," Roy said.

Robin took a moment and his eyes widened. "Nanorobotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University at STAR city," he said as he opened up multiple holographic screens with the Doctor's information on the display.

"She went missing two weeks ago," Robin said, finishing his statement. "Vanished two weeks ago. Kidnapped by the League of Shadows," Roy said, correcting Robin.

The young acrobat had excitement written all over his face, "Woah, you want us to rescue her from the shadows?" Wally and Dick fist bump. Matt started going through all he knew about this particular group of assassins, happy that they don't use undead, nearly undetectable zombie ninjas like that of the Hand.

"I already rescued her. But there's one problem. The shadows already had coerced her into developing a weapon," Roy says as he pulled up a few displays of the weapons. "The doc calls it 'The Fog.' It's comprised of millions of nanobots that were designed as nanotech infiltrators."

He then plays a test video of the Fog disintegrating a small building. "They can dismantle anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But its' true purpose isn't merely destruction. They can interface with any computer to extract all its' data and store it. They then deliver that data to the shadows."

The team looked shocked after hearing what they could do, but Roy wasn't done yet. "This could provide them access to weapons, strategic defence, cutting edge science and tech..." Artemis looked up as if she was expecting this. "...perfect for extortion, power broking, blackmail. Yeah, sounds like the shadows," she said, finishing Roy's sentence.

Wally crossed his arms, "Yeah, like you know anything about the shadows." Artemis gives him a knowing smirk in response. The speedster puts his arms in the air, "Who _are_ you?" he shouts out, feeling extremely annoyed by the blonde archer.

Ignoring the two Roy continued, "Rouquette's working on a virus to render the fog inert." Robin had an alarmed look on his face, "But if the Shadows know she can do that..."

"...they'll target her. Right now she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local highschools computer lab," Roy said, finishing Dick's sentence. Oliver was shocked when he heard that, "You left her alone?" he asks, surprised by his former sidekicks negligence. Even Matt wasn't expecting that. Leaving a high profile target alone like that was never a good idea.

"She's safe enough for now," Roy said. "Then let's you and I keep her that way," Green Arrow said slowly. Red Arrow seemed amused by the idea, "You and I? Don't you want to take your new protege?" he asks angrily.

Batman firmly places his hand on Green Arrow's shoulder, not wanting this to turn into more of a spectacle. "You brought this to the team. It's their mission, which makes it her's too," Oliver said, sad that he couldn't get through to Roy.

Red Arrow scoffs. "Then my job's over." Without saying another word he makes his way to the zeta tube. " **RECOGNIZED-SPEEDY, B06.** " The artificial voice said. Roy looked up to were the speakers were, "That's Red Arrow. B06. Update," he said, hating the fact that the machine calls him by his old name as a sidekick.

The platform activates and Roy leaves the cave. Artemis and Wally stare at each other and then look away out of spite. 'Uh oh. That's not good,' Matt thought to himself. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second," he asks the speedster.

He takes them away so that they wouldn't be heard. Matt puts his arm around Wally, "Look. I get that you and Roy are friends. Fine, but we gave him enough invitations to join us and he shot us down everytime. You need to face facts, he's not coming back," Matt said. "But why is she replacing him? She's a rookie," Wally says.

"A rookie whose arrow saved your butt from Amazo," Matt said. "Wait, that was Speedy's- I mean Red Arrow's, uh, arrow," Wally said, stumbling his words. "Look, I vouch for her. She's good. I'm not asking you to be best friends. Just be civil. That too much to ask for?" Matt asks.

Wally shakes his head, "I guess not," he says reluctantly. "Ok then, suit up. Kid Flash doesn't fight bad guys in trunks and sunscreen," Matt says, slapping Wally on the back. 'First school and now this. This day sucks so hard,' Wally thought, dreading spending the next few hours with Artemis.

* * *

 **Happy Harbour, August 8th, 2010** **: **

It was past midnight. The team had been patrolling the high school for hours. Wally hated it; he'd had enough of school for one day. Matt didn't want there to be any tension between Kid Flash and Artemis so he had the latter keep watch in front of the school with Miss Martian.

Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash were accompanying the doctor in the computer lab. Superboy was patrolling the perimeter and Matt was perched on the roof of the building, standing in it's centre, scanning the whole area for any signs of suspicious activity.

The blind hero wasn't sure how assassins from the League of Shadows would compare to those from the Hand, so he was on red alert and expected the worst. He was paying to every sound, every rustle, every thud, every breath. He didn't want to be blindsided by ninjas again. 'M'gann, link us up. We don't want the shadows intercepting our comms,' he commanded mentally. Miss Martians eyes glow a bright green and everyone was connected via the psychic link, including Rouquette and Artemis.

'Everyone online? M'gann asks mentally.'The archer shakes her head, the psychic intrusion was slightly painful at first. 'This is weird,' she thinks. Rouquette was typing away at one of the schools computers. 'And distracting. Coding a distributed algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less RAM than a wristwatch was hard enough. Now I have to hear teen-speak in my head?' she complains mentally.

Wally, having missed dinner was munching on one of his custom made energy bars for speedsters. 'Lady. Do you always try and complain when someone tries to help you?' he asks her on the link. Artemis sat down on the table were the doctor was working. 'Pot, kettle, have you met?' Wally then asks in an irritated tone via the link, 'I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow from the team.'

'Guys. I get that the two of you have issues, but for the love of God, shut up. In case you've forgotten, we're protecting a woman from an organisation run by the most ruthless killers in the world. I'm pretty sure you don't want her to die on account of the two of you squabbling like toddlers!' Matt thought sternly. 'Whatever,' Artemis thought as she crossed her arms. Inside the building, Wally did the same, which Matt found somewhat amusing.

Rouquette planted her face into her palms. 'I couldn't get the Justice League,' she complained. Aqualad walked behind her, 'Your virus won't be of much use if we cannot find your weapon. Can you track it?' he thinks.

'My utility fog isn't a weapon. It's science, brilliant science. And of course I can track it, but I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address with 'Assassinate me' written all over it in flashing lights,' she thinks to herself in despair. Aqualad calmy places his hand on her shoulder. 'We will protect you,' he thinks firmly.

The doctor considers his words and presses a button to start tracking the fog. Matt and Kaldur knew it was only a matter of time till the shadows took action.

* * *

An owl cooed in the distance, which Matt found soothing. The feeling quickly dissapated and he was put on alert when he heard some rustling in some bushes a couple hundred yards away from the school. He tilted his head, trying to see if he could make out what caused the noise. After a few moments, he dismissed the sound as another woodland creature. They had been making noise all night.

Superboy, too, heard the sound, but he thought nothing of it, since he couldn't see anything in the woods that aroused suspicion. The kryptonian jumped in the air and onto the top of the school. He hopped across the roof and landed next to Artemis and Miss Martian.

The archer admirred Superboy as he walked away. 'Mm, that boy,' she thought in a seductive tone. This made Superboy stop and look at her in utter confusion. He wasn't sure how to feel upon hearing that and walked away. Miss Martian looked at Artemis with contempt, 'He can hear you. Everyone can hear you,' she thought in an annoyed manner. 'Oh, I know,' Artemis thought as she continued to look at Superboy.

'Miss Martian, the doc's located the fog. Reconfigure the bioship to let Supes and Robin pursue,' Matt commanded via the link. He needed Robin to activate the virus and wanted Superboy to accompany him in case things got rough. And to make sure the two girls didn't fight over him.

The ship descended and it morphed a red ramp for the two teenagers to walk on board. The ship retracted the ramp and flew off into the sky.

Amongst the foliage, a woman wearing a mask that resembled the cheshire cat along with a green and black kimono witnessed the two leaving. She sees that Daredevil was still on the roof and knew she had to get rid of him before he discovered her. The assassin pulls out a device and places her thumb on the trigger, waiting for the opportune moment.

* * *

'You embarrassed Superboy,' M'gann complained to Artemis over the link. 'Didn't hear him say that,' the Archer responded cheekily. 'Must you challenge everyone?' Miss Martian asks. Artemis scowls, 'Where I come from, that's how you survive,' she responded mentally.

Daredevil was about to reprimand the two of them till he heard something in the distance. A high pitched whir entered his ears and he froze. His muscles stiffened like a rock and his veins were popping out of his skin as his complexion paled. Collapsing on the floor he could make out the outline of a female figure jumping over the fence with his radar sense. The two girls were still arguing over the link and had failed to notice the assassin.

The noise stopped as the woman pocketed the device but his paralysis lingered. He needed to inform the team about the intruder but mustering the strength to even think was very painful. 'Guys...' he started but stopped. He felt someone walk towards him, their footsteps were like feathers landing on a pillow. The woman raised her leg and she stomped on Matt's face, knocking him out.

"One down," Cheshire said to herself as she climbed down the building and entered the floor the doctor was on via a window. Wally was outside the computer lab, next to some lockers. He sees a shadow on the floor for a brief moment and runs after it. The speedster looks around and sees the shadow disappear into the swimming pool. He runs into the room but falls on the ground, losing his footing due to small marble like balls on the ground.

Wally rubs his head but is then rendered unconscious by Cheshire. The assassin drags the speedsters body towards the pool and dumps him inside the water face first.

Aqualad was next to Rouquette as she continued to develop her virus. He spots something in the corner and jumps in front of the doctor. The atlantean winces in pain as a shuriken pierces his thick skin. "Doctor, get down," he says outloud. Kaldur pushes her down upon seeing three more shuriken being thrown and blocks them with his arm, allowing the weapons to pierce his skin.

Cheshire ran into the room with two sai in hand. "Hmm, that had to hurt," she said, her voice disguised by a synthesiser. Kaldur removed the projectiles from his chest and arm. "Atlantean skin is quite dense," he said as he removed his water bearers and formed two swords.

He crosses the weapons together to block an incoming attack from Cheshire. "And my shuriken are quite poisonous," she said in response, noting that Aqualad was somewhat light headed. He throws a kick but she effortlessly flips backward onto a table. He ran towards her and the two cross blades.

'M'gann, Kid, Daredevil, Artemis. We are under attack in the computer lab,' he informed telepathically, not sure if he was able to defeat the assassin on his own. Miss Martian and Artemis enter the building and make there way to the lab but M'gann stops and hovers away to the pool, sensing that Kid Flash was drowning.

Matt stood up. He felt like he was hit by a truck. His hearing wasn't at peak performance but it was adequate enough to detect Kaldur struggling with the assassin. Daredevil leaps off of the roof and grapples though the same window Cheshire used to enter the school.

Whilst M'gann was busy saving Wally, Artemis entered the computer room and heard Kaldur say something about his immunity to jellyfish toxin. Cheshire headbutted the Atlantean and knocked him out. She was about to stab him, but her sai was knocked out of her hand by an arrow.

"Don't move," Artemis said as she aimed her next arrow at the masked assassin. Matt rolled into the room and threw his billy club at Cheshire who ducked down to dodge it. But Daredevil just kicked her to the ground when she did so, making her flip back to avoid another attack.

"This gig's getting interesting," Cheshire says as she pulled out a collapsable sword. Artemis fires three arrows in succession at her but the assassin just cuts them in midair before they could reach her. Matt uses his clubs to swipe at her but Cheshire parries his attacks with the sword.

As Aqualad gets up Wally and M'gann enter the room. Cheshire sees that she's surrounded and says, "Ok, maybe too interesting." She drops a smoke bomb onto the ground and disappears, with Matt unable to track her due to his muffled hearing. Wally lunges at the smoke but misses and leaps in front of Artemis, grabbing her so that she wouldn't fall over.

He recoils in disgust and looks at the now dissipating smoke. "Gone," he says. Aqualad was checking on Rouquette who sees that the assassin was gone. "She's getting away. You're letting her get away," she whines.

Wally turns to Artemis, "This was your fault. You were on the perimeter, how'd she get past you?" The archer glares daggers at the speedster but M'gann stepped in. "That's not really fair. I was outside too," she said. "She KO-ed me with some sonic device. We were all sloppy. But what matters now is that the doctor's safe," Matt said.

M'gann smiles at Artemis. "I didn't do nearly as well on my first mission. And I'm sure you haven't been Green Arrow's sidekick for long," she says in a friendly manner. The tone of her voice caught Artemis off guard. She wasn't expecting her to be so kind.

Matt turns to Kaldur. "We need to move the doc to a more secure location. She'll probably bring in reinforcements to engage all of us," Daredevil says. The computer Rouquette was working on was beeping. Robin talked to Matt and Kaldur over the comms. Apparently, the fog destroyed STAR labs and gathered all the data in it, giving the enemy access to cutting edge technology. Matt orders the doctor to rescan the fog.

* * *

The doctor was continuing her work on a computer inside a small church along the harbour. Kid Flash and Artemis were with her, ignoring each other whenever they made eye contact. Aqualad was outside the peer, walking along the perimeter. He ran amongst the foliage and looked around. "Miss Martian. Stay camouflaged and do a wide sweep of the perimeter," he said loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

He heard something rustling in the tree above him. The atlantean looked up and an orange web-like adhesive stuck to his head and pulled him up. He felt his body being hit in all directions and was thrown into the side of a car hard enough to dent its surface.

Aqualad fell to the floor and slowly got up. He saw a skinny man in a skin tight, black suit jump from the tree to his location. He was ready to fight but a large man with a hook for a right hand hit him in the back of the head and knocked him out.

Cheshire flipped in between the two assassins. "The martian could return any second, and I'm not keen on improving their odds. We end Rouquette. Now!" she instructs them.

The skinny, spider like assassin jumped into the room where the doctor was and used his adhesive gloves to stick to the wall above the door. Kid Flash run towards him and tried to sweep him off of his feet. The Black Spider sees this and jumps to the ceiling and shoots a line of orange webbing from his wrist. Wally rolls forward to dodge it and throws a nearby trash can at the assassin, which he dodges. Kid Flash and Black Spider engage in hand to hand combat while Artemis readies and arrow.

She hears glass shatter behind her and sees the hooked assassin. She fires an arrow but Hook ducked behind the church pews to avoid it. "Don't stop working," Artemis instructs Rouquette.

Up above on the roof, Cheshire was watching this from behind a window. She wondered why Daredevil wasn't present; the effects of the sonics should have worn off by now. Not wanting to waste an opportunity she silently opened the windows and aimed a crossbow at the doctor. She fires a bolt but a desk flew in front of the doctor which stopped the projectile.

"Martian's here. It's now or never," Cheshire informs her colleagues. Black Spider stands on his hands and kicks Wally over him and pulls the floating desk away with his webs. Cheshire leaps down to the doctor and Hook hits Artemis with his hook attached to a chain. Cheshire tackles Rouquette to the ground and pulls out her sai.

The doctor turns her head around at a hundred and eighty degrees and her skin goes green. "We've been duped," the masked assassin says.

Meanwhile, blocks away in an internet cafe, the real doctor Rouquette was working on her virus, away from all the fighting. Matt was standing guard within the building and Aqualad accompanied him when their teammates were distracting the assassin. They were confident that between them, they could keep her safe.

"Any progress?" Matt asks. She looks up, "Almost got it," the doctor says. He turns his head when he hears Cheshires light footsteps a few hundred yards away from them as well as Artemis' less conspicuous footsteps in pursuit.

Wally and M'gann must be taking care of the other assassins. From what he could make out with his hampered hearing Artemis tried using an arrow filled with knockout gas on Cheshire, which didn't work thanks to filters in her mask. The older fighter took Artemis out and was on her way there.

"Aqualad, stay close to her. We've got incoming," Matt said as he pulled out his billy clubs. He could no longer hear Cheshire's foot steps; he assumed she was being more cautious. A ball of smoke entered the room and both heroes aimed their weapons in that direction. The red clad hero then felt a small draft and noticed that a panel in the roof was now loose behind them.

He threw his billy club at the panel and Cheshire dropped to the floor. The kimono wearing assassin pulled out the sonic device again and activated it. But Matt was prepareda he remembered the frequency that was used, and he did his best to cancel out the noise, like he was trained to do. But he was still slowing down.

Seeing that the device wasn't as effective as last time, she throws the device to the other side of the room, knowing that Daredevil would try and disable it before engaging her.

Matt painfully walked towards the device and Cheshire threw three large darts in Kaldur's chest. His vision was blurry and he struggled to concentrate. "Let's test the limits of your jellyfish immunity, shall we?" she asked the Atlantean playfully. She throws three more poisoned darts at him and Aqualad could not withstand anymore. He slumped to the ground. His weapons lost their shape and formed puddles.

"Limit tested," she said, noting it down in her head in case she needed to face an Atlantean again. Matt felt his head being turned to mush the closer he got to the device but he needed it out of the way. He felt around the floor for to source of the sound and he brushed his hand over a metal object. He applied as much pressure as he could, crushing it, making the high pitched whine stop.

Matt threw the now defunct device at Cheshire's head, which annoyed her more than anything else. "I was wondering if I'd ever get to dance with you. Hope you're more of a challenge than fish boy over there," she said, almost gleefully, twirling both her sai around.

'Elektra likes to use those. Hmm, funny,' Matt thought as he circled around the assassin. He hated anyone who took pleasure in killing and he loved make those kind of people bleed. Matt used his club to strike her head, which she blocked with one of her sai. He flourished his other sai by spinning it around which distracted her. Matt then knocks out the sai that was clashing with his other billy club.

Cheshire responded by kicking one of Matt's billy clubs out of his hand. They were both down to one weapon but Matt was the only one injured. The sonic device still slowed him down giving Cheshire a major speed and agility advantage, which she wished to exploit.

She threw her remaining sai at the doctor but Matt countered by throwing his last billy club and blocked it mid air. But this was a ploy to get him off guard. Cheshire flipped forward and straightened her legs to hit Matt in the chest. Before he could respond she flipped backwards onto a table and threw a shuriken at him.

Even in his current state, Matt was able to dodge them. 'She's too quick. Let me use that,' Matt thought to himself. He needed to distract her to get closer. "You hear what I did to Bullseye last year?" he asks her. She steps of off the table and cracks her neck, "Most everyone in our community has. Why'd you think the Hand and the Shadows even care about you?" she says flipping behind Matt and getting him into a rear choke hold.

Matt smiles despite the pain in his throat, catching Cheshire off guard. He bites her arm which makes her let go, but he wasn't done yet. He steps on her foot and grabs her shoulders, pulling her closer towards him. Cheshire felt an armoured knee being driven into her liver and then into her solar plexus, sending a shock throughout her upper body. Matt then kicked her in the knee and stepped back. He flips forward to deliver a reverse heel kick to the back of her head, making Cheshire groan in pain on the ground.

"You're good," Matt says sincerely as she used the walls for support to stand up. Daredevil charges forward and lifts the smaller opponent over his head and through the door of the cafe and slams her violently on the ground.

He punches her in the mask hard enough to make it crack. "But I've fought better," he says gasping for air. Cheshire slowly raises her hand toward Matt which he catches. She presses her index finger and thumb together and a red smoke exits, entering Matts nostrils.

The blind hero gets off of Cheshire and grasps his throat, unable to breath. He collapses on the floor and starts hitting his chest in an attempt to make him breath properly. Cheshire gets up and dusts off her kimono. "Maybe those _'better'_ fighters should try poisonous gas," she says in a snarky tone.

She sees Daredevil defenceless on the ground and pulls out her collapsable sword. She knew a few mob bosses in New York who would pay a king's ransom for his head. Three arrows then embedded themselves into the ground between the two and they created a small explosion, knocking Cheshire's cracked mask off of her face.

She was still concealed in shadow but could see Artemis aiming an arrow straight for her head. "Step into the light," the archer commanded. The assassin stepped forward, "Wow. I am completely at your mercy," she said coyly. Artemis froze when he saw her face.

"You," Artemis whispers. "I suppose now you'll bring me to justice, let your new friends interrogate me. But I wonder if your position's secure enough to survive them learning _everything_ I know," Cheshire says casually.

Artemis wasn't expecting an ultimatum. The two sisters stare at each other for a few moments till the archer reluctantly lowers her bow. "Didn't think so. So like the cheshire cat, I'll just disappear" Cheshire says. She drops some smoke bombs and fades into the shadows.

The young archer shakes her head and helps Daredevil up, who just expelled as much of the gas as he could. "Family trouble?" he asks coughing out a few drops of blood. She looked down, not willing to look him in the eye.

"You saved my life. I can't really be that mad at you. But if you compromise another mission like that, I'll report you to Batman and Arrow. You're smart enough to know what happens next," he says in a neutral tone. Artemis nods and Matt smiles.

Doctor Rouquette was helping Aqualad out of the cafe. Miss Martian and Kid Flash ran towards Artemis and Daredevil. "Artemis. Where's the assassin?" Kaldur asks, still tired from the poison. "She- uh. She got away," she said softly.

"Oh, from you? Big surprise. Notice, we got ours," Wally said sarcastically as Miss Martian used her telekinesis to bring herself to the ground and to carry Hook and Black Spider. "Cool. Souvenir," the speedster says, picking up Cheshire's cracked mask.

Matt stepped forward rubbing his throat. "That lady took out me and Kaldur. It's not her fault she got away," he said trying to defend his teammate. He turns to the doctor, "What about the virus?" Kaldur painstakingly responds, "She finished uploading the virus when you fought Cheshire. Robin activated it and the cloud is now inert," he says becoming out of breath after finishing his sentence.

Daredevil sits the Atlantean down so that he could rest. "Did you see her face?" Aqualad asks Artemis as he pulled out the darts from his skin. She hesitated for a few moments, "No. It was dark."

"Doesn't matter. Robin and Supes neutralised the fog and the doctor's safe. Probably wouldn't be the case if it weren't for you," Matt said quickly, not wanting anyone to ask if he had seen the assassin. Artemis turned around to face the other heroes. "Welcome to the team," Aqualad says and Matt nods in acknowledgement, seeing as though it was too painful to talk at the moment.

She gives them a small smile and the team walk towards her, except Wally. Daredevil and Aqualad take turns shaking her hand while M'gann gently touched her shoulder. "I've always wanted a sister. Here on earth, I mean. I've got twelve back on Mars, but trust me, it's not the same," she says kindly. Artemis blankly stares at the martian. "I wouldn't know. But thanks," she says making Matt smirk at the irony at play.

Matt and M'gann simultaneously elbowed Wally in the ribs when he stood there silently. "Ow. Yeah. Welcome," he said unenthusiastically. Artemis extends her hand and Wally grabs it a bit too firmly.

"Robin. Where are you guys? I'd like to get back to the cave ASAP," Matt says over the comms. 'I have a date in the evening,' he thought to himself, excited to see Elektra again.

* * *

 **And that is that. There weren't many changes I could have made to this episode quite frankly but I still had a blast writing it.**

 **Matt's back in New York for the next chapter and he will be reunited with and old mentor of his.**

 **Time for comments** **: (Let me know if you rather I PM'd you for comment response next time)**

 **PandakaiLove:** **Amazing chapter! I loved it, the drama, the action, Alfred, everything! I loved peters part, I didn't expect that at all. Will you incorporate them in season 2? Will you be doing a season two? And also, are you going to update it next month? This chapter tool longer then what I expected ( it could just be me I don't know) anyway great chapter! Keep going**

 **Me** **: Thanks man, appreciate the comment as usual. Yep, I've got plans for Spidey and Jessica (to a lesser extent tbh) for season two. If I ever do a season two. It depends on how long it takes to finish season one quite frankly. But we'll see. Though all that stuff would probably take place a few months before season two starts. Need to deal with a certain bald, overweight crime boss before the invasion ;)**

 **Dark King Marcel:** **Dude awesome Story so far I love it keep up the great work :)**

 **Me** **: Thanks dude. Glad you liked it.**

 **Superfanman217:** **love it. i still wanna see the team's reaction to matt being blind**

 **Me** **: Thanks man. That moment will come, trust me. I am going to enjoy the hell out of writing Wally's reaction.**

 **Fax15:** **Posta, esta es una de las mejores fanfics que e leido. segui asi y actualiza lo mas rapido que puedas jaja**

 **Me** **: I don't understand Spanish but Google translate does. So thanks for the comment and I will do my best to post regularly. (Not sure if I should add the response in Spanish)**

 **Justaguest:** **I like how JL is thinking "Oh, he's so nice. Great team player." Then YJ is unnerved about DD's intensity.**

 **I wasn't expecting Jessica and Peter. It is a nice touch since Beast Boy is introduced before he gets his powers.**

 **Looking forward to more. Happy New Year!**

 **Me** **: Happy belated New Year. The team not being so sure about Matt's brutality was intentional. I never noticed how well behaved I made him around the League. I could probably do something with that.**

 **Yep, If I do a season two Peter will play a major role. Jessica will be a minor supporting character but may as well introduce her early on.**

 **Guest:** **Will we see Matt letting the devil out? as in the series and its problem with anger, leaving others almost dead by their attack of anger?**

 **Me** **: I've had moments before Matt joined the team where he was absolutely brutal towards his enemies, resulting in him killing an innocent girl in one of his fights.**

 **So, he will be more extreme than the others on the team but he won't be letting the devil out till much later. You'll know when you see it.**

 **Thanks so much for all the overwhelming response for the previous chapter. I hope I can deliver that kind of quality in the upcoming chapters.**

 **Until next time.**

 **See ya later!**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Teacher:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, August 8th, 2010:**

"You can't be serious?" Matt asks in shock as we walked alongside Elektra, tapping his cane on the sidewalk. The green-eyed girl turned to him, perplexed by the line of questioning. "I don't see why me not liking butter on popcorn seems so revolting an idea to you," she said, her French-English accent made every word sound almost melodious to Matt's ears.

He shuffles his feet, trying to get back to the topic at hand. "How can you not? It's like a childhood staple," he says, the tone of disbelief still present. She rolls her eyes, " _Americans_ ," she muttered derisively under her breath. "Heard that," he said with a smirk, making her laugh.

Matt inhales deeply to smell her orchid flavored perfume. He could feel the silk of her designer clothes against his skin. He couldn't see her but he knew she must have looked very beautiful today. He wore torn black jeans, a hoodie, shoes that were a few sizes too big and a backpack with his costume in it. He was virtually tripping with every step, despite not even trying to do his clumsy blind guy routine.

Elektra sees that Matt was struggling to walk and asks, "Ok. What's with the shoes?" The blind teenager just shakes his head. "My old ones got shredded by a dog in our apartment. I borrowed my brothers, whose like twice my size. They are so uncomfortable," he whines as he shuffled more and more in his shoes.

"Is this it?" she asks Matt pointing to a sign. "I don't know. You tell me," he said making the greek girl apologize profusely, she keeps forgetting he was actually blind. Let's see. Teenagers smoking a few joints, kids eating out of loud bags of candy, spilled coke on the floor, stale popcorn. Yep, this is the movie theatre I told you about," he said after observing what was inside the building.

Elektra and Matt wanted to go on a normal date, just to break the relationship in. But they both had very different definitions of normal. She wanted to dine at a five star hotel, rent the penthouse sweet and steal her step-fathers expensive wines. While Matt wanted to go to a local rib joint, steal some ketchup packets and sneak away to the back with some of his dad's old whisky. Granted they both wanted to pilfer alcohol but that's where the similarities of their ideas stopped.

In the end, they decided that going to a movie would be the better move. Which was a fine idea except for one small flaw. "How's Helen Keller over there gonna see anything?" one of the teenagers outside the theatre asked sarcastically, laughing along with his friends. The taller one, which Matt and Elektra assumed was the leader of the group approached them. "What's a girl like you doing with a prick like him? And why's he got clown shoes on?" he asked looking at the blind teens oversized shoes. His Brooklyn accent was comparable to hearing nails against a chalkboard for Elektra.

They recognise the slightly older teenager as the son of some mid-level member of the Bertinelli crime family. A privileged bastard who thought he could get away with saying and doing anything thanks to his rich daddy. But Elektra was used to dealing with idiots like him. All she had to do was dismantle his ego.

She gives the older teen a cute pout, "Well you know what they say about boys with big feet. And yours, well, they're kind of small," she says looking down at his lower half with a facetious smirk on her face. The taller boy stood there too stunned to say anything and his friends were struggling to hide their laughter.

Elektra interlocks her arms with Matt and pecks him on the cheek, "Come along Matthew. We've a movie to watch," she said. Matt gave the other teenaged boy the middle finger, though he aimed it a foot to the left on purpose and laughed along with Elektra.

"That was pretty hot, El," he said with a satisfied smile. She gave an overdramatic macho pose, "Anything for you m'lady," she said doing a terrible impression of James Bond. "Also, El. Really?" she asks. "What? You call me _Matthew_ all fancy like. Besides El is way easier to say than Elektra," he retorts. The two continue to exchange banter as they got their tickets and refreshments and entered the theatre.

They sat at the back of the cinema and waited awkwardly as the credits rolled. Noticing that everyone in the theatre was looking at the screen, something dawned on Matt. "How the hell am I gonna watch a movie?"

* * *

"Are you in position?" the squad leader asks in his van to the lead officer of the SWAT team. "Affirmative," he says over the radio. "Acknowledged," the man in the van said. The NYPD received intel that there were going to be top level Yakuza members attending some kind of a meeting here with a few unknown parties.

Nobu Yoshioka was expected amongst them but so far they haven't spotted anything all day. The troops were getting anxious, they all wanted to make a dent in the Yakuza's operation. They were too well organised under Nobu's leadership. No other crime family or federal agency wanted to get near him or his men. There were even rumours circulating that he employed ninjas, not that he believed that nonsense.

The squad leader squints at the building with his night vision goggles and sees some light flickering through one of the windows. "Alpha team, see what's happening on the third corridor of the first floor."

One of the SWAT members removed a small wire like device and moves it under the closed door. The wire had a small camera at the end, which was connected to a laptop. They see the footage and saw that the room was empty, except for a source of bright pink light blurring the footage.

The SWAT team describe what they see and the squad leader rubs his head. "Screw it. Breach, we need to see what's in there." One of the SWAT members takes a sledge hammer and hits the door, forcing it open. The men enter the room, guns trained on the source of light, their body cams giving the people in the van a clear view of what they saw.

But as soon as they entered the room, the building began to shake and their body cams stopped transmitting a signal to the van. The vibrations stop and the men see two young girls in the centre of the room. One was of asian decent, with purple hair and a purple body suit and was holding a Katana and the other girl was a brunette with a black, full bodied suit and a trench coat with metal gauntlets around her wrists.

"Should we do this or let the troops do it? I mean, they never get to stretch their legs," the Brunette asks the purple haired girl who unsheathed her katana. "Neither do I. But we have to 'Conserve our energy for the real threat' or whatever it was she said," the young asian girl said, brushing back her purple hair.

She snaps her fingers and each member of the SWAT team, both inside the room and out were disappearing one by one. The leader of the SWAT team looked around the room in fear, aiming his rifle in all directions. It looked like the shadows themselves came to life and took away his friends.

"Look behind you," the purple girl instructs him. He swallows hard and wipes his brow which was saturated with sweat and turns around. Before he could scream he saw a blade enter his chest. He looks up and sees that over a dozen ninja, some wearing black and others red were in all corners of the room. Falling to the floor he clutches his wound and cries. He didn't want to die like this.

* * *

Elektra spent the first half of the film narrating what was happening on screen to Matt. Which didn't work out too well since she described everything in the vaguest way possible. All Matt remembered was that some guy had a dream within a dream within another dream. Or something along those lines.

After the second half, she elected to stop her narration and just sit on Matt's lap. Kissing him for the remainder of the film. A prospect which he had no objections to, seeing as though they were the only ones in the back row and he was still a fifteen year old boy. He'd be insane to reject her advances.

But this was slightly awkward since he knew full well that she could feel certain changes in his body when she sat on him. But that didn't seem to discourage Elektra. If anything it made her kissing more intense, once again, something Matt had no objections to.

She leapt out of his lap when the lights came back on and they were shooed away by the staff who were cleaning in the theatre. They heard some old staff member talking about the 'kids these days'. Matt folded his cane and held Elektra's hand. "Well. That was fun," he said with a wide smile. His expression of pure joy filled the girl with a degree of glee. "I was hoping to go a bit further but that film ended way too quickly," she said suggestively, putting her head against Matt's shoulders.

Her warmth comforted Matt greatly but like with most good things in his life he couldn't appreciate it for long. "Those idiots from outside. They're following us," he whispered, recognizing their heartbeats. She subtly turned her head and saw three teenagers a few dozen feet behind them, wearing different clothes from last time.

The two take a left turn into an alley, away from the crowds so they could deal with the irritants in a leisurely fashion. Matt heard footsteps run across the next alley which then stopped just where the one he was in ended. "I'm assuming they're trying to trap us?" Elektra asks.

Matt just nods. Two of the teens block the end of the alley and two more walked through the way they came, isolating them. Elektra looks the Bertinelli boy in the eye, "Is there a problem?" she asks, feigning innocence.

The tall brooklyner wreaked of cocaine. 'Must of done some to muster up the courage to do whatever this was,' Matt thought to himself. Even Elektra could tell that he was high. "What's your name?" Matt asked in a friendly tone of voice.

"Rodger. Rodger Bertinelli," he said with the utmost confidence. He was convinced the knowledge of his last name would make the two give him respect. Or at the very least, make them fear him. But much to his surprise they both started laughing. "We're being threatened by a dude called Rodger!" Matt exclaimed, grabbing Elektra's shoulder for support to stop him from falling over. The olive skinned girl was busy holding her stomach in pain from laughter. She wasn't expecting 'Rodger' to be the name of someone related to the Sicilian mafia.

Rodger's friends were looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to act. The older teenager's face was bursting with anger. He put his hand behind his back and pulled out a gun, aiming it at the two. Matt and Elektra forced themselves to stop laughing, they didn't want to mess around with a junkie with a gun.

"Here's what's gonna happen. My boys here are gonna beat the shit out of you, you blind faggot. Then we're gonna take your girl. Add her to my collection if you get what I'm saying," he said with an unsettling smile. Elektra looked at Matt, "Do you mind if I..." she started. "Nope. Go ahead," he said.

Elektra removes a small blade from her pocket and throws it at Rodger's hand, making him drop the gun and grab his bleeding hand in pain. Matt engaged the three lackeys while Elektra took care of their ring leader.

The former Hand member kicks Rodger in the groin three times and kicks him in the chest hard enough to cracks the wall behind him. "I wonder how many girls you've attempted to harass? Are you not used to one fighting back?" she asks rhetorically with a scowl on her face. She breaks his ribs with a stomp to the chest and kicks him in the jaw, making him lose a few teeth. The sight made her smile involuntarily.

She picks up the gun he had dropped and aimed it at his head. Matt notices this and throws a trash can lid at the weapon, disarming Elektra. She shakes her hand from the sudden pain and angrily marches towards Matt. "I had him!" she shouts out.

"You were going to execute him. That's not your call to make," he said sternly, crossing his arms. She stares daggers at Matt who was completely unaffected by her look of rage and disappointment. "So you save murdering rapists now?" she asks flippantly. "I've known men like that. They cannot be reformed. Killing them is the only solution," she said, pointing at the battered body of Rodger.

He shakes his head, "He's a piece of shit who wanted to hurt us. I get it. But you can't just kill him. We're not God. We can't make that call. If you take a life, even one who might deserve it. It changes you. Makes you feel like you're worthless and unworthy to live yourself," Matt says, holding Elektra's hand.

She looks to her boyfriend and sees the regret on his face. "Only a killer would know that," she said with an almost sympathetically. She had seen people broken at the sight of a corpse in their arms. Someone who was dead by their own doing. She saw that very look in Matt when he lectured her.

Elektra wanted to ask more questions but Matt felt a buzzing in his ear. He activated his communicator and spoke in his 'devil voice'. "Detective Blake? Yeah. I'll be there," he said, cutting the call.

"We're tabling this discussion for later. Suit up, the Hand's back," he instructed. He climbed up a nearby fire escape so he could put on his armour and she followed him. She had no wish to let him fight her former comrades alone.

* * *

Detective Blake rubbed his hands together to gain what little warmth he could. His thin, cotton gloves did nothing to help with the cold air. He stood on a rooftop neighboring that of the one where the SWAT team were killed. The police made a perimeter around the building and blocked off the roads.

Homeland security took over the case so he technically had no business being that close to the crime scene. But his captain pulled a few strings since he knew that the young detective was relatively close to Daredevil.

"Bad time to quit smoking," he said to himself. "That stuff would have killed you," a voice said behind him. Blake turned around, used to the vigilante sneaking up on him.

The two shake hands and exchange pleasantries. Blake notices Elektra who was wearing a red and black kimono with long red gloves that stopped below her shoulder. She had a black cloth covering the lower half of her face.

"She's a friend," Matt says curtly which gave Blake the impression that he shouldn't ask too much. "What do you have for me?" He asks the detective.

Blake gives a brief summary about the status of the SWAT team and the two teenagers look tense. "Definitely the Hand," Elektra says looking at the building. "The what now?" Blake asks.

"Ancient cult that uses zombie ninjas," Matt responds. Blake stares at him blankly, "That's uh...neat. Better than a giant robot with super powers I guess," he says wishing he could just go back to dealing with mobsters.

Daredevil's nostrils flair and he points at the opposing building. "Tell them to shine a light up there on the roof," Matt instructs the cop. Blake complies and radios one of the ground forces to use a signal light.

The lights illuminated the roof and what was revealed horrified everyone. "Jesus Christ!" Blake exclaims. He tried to avert his eyes but he couldn't. It seemed disrespectful.

Elektra walks next to Matt to tell him what they saw. "The SWAT team. Their heads. They've put them on pikes and placed them all across the roof," she said in a quiet tone. She hadn't seen such brutality in a long time.

Matt could smell the blood but he didn't know for sure where it came from until she told him. "We're going in. Tell the men to stop the lights. That'll just make them targets," the red-clad hero told Blake.

The former soldier nodded. "If you need back up, let me know," he told Matt, tapping his holstered gun. The teenager patted him on the shoulder and leapt off the building along with Elektra.

Blake saw the two enter the building with the grace of dancers and he told the men to turn off the lights. He hoped that the two would be safe in there.

* * *

"Is there anyone inside?" Elektra asked Matt who was in front of her, holding his Billy clubs. "Not sure. I couldn't track the ninjas I fought last time. Scary thing was that I'm pretty sure they were wearing training robes. Not sure how tough the more experienced ones are," he said as he rubbed the site of an old injury.

"Black robed ninja means that they're mid-tier. Red means they're elite and highly trained. The blue ones are initiates. They're not undead yet and aren't that much of a threat," she told Matt. He paused and looked at her with an irritated expression, "How's that info gonna help me?" He asks. She slaps her forehead and told him to ignore her.

The two reach the room where the SWAT team were killed. Matt sniffed the air and was puzzled. "I can taste the iron in the air but they didn't spill any blood on the floor. Not a single drop. Those ninja were good," he whispered. The room was pitch dark and Matt could sense that there was something in the room but he couldn't gather any specific details.

Elektra grabs his arm and stops him from walking further into the room. Matt concentrates and could vaguely make out the outlines of two girls via his radar sense. He wasn't sure how they were hiding from his senses.

The two girls seemed to ignore Matt completely and were just staring at Elektra. "Psylocke, Quake. How are you two? You didn't need to commit mass murder just to see me," She says in a mocking tone.

Psylocke, the girl in purple rolls her eyes. She unsheathes her katana and points it at her. "Ok. I'm killing the traitor. You get the pretty one," she says with a steel cold gaze.

The other girl, who Matt assumed must have been Quake was tieing her brown hair into a bun. Matt could hear the clanking of her metal gauntlets. He didn't know why she would wear something so heavy.

"Pretty doesn't do him justice," Quake says to her companion, almost swooning. Matt whispers to Elektra, "So I'm the pretty one right? Just to be clear." She nods, not taking her eyes off of Psylocke.

The purple haired girl raises her sword and a pink energy flows through it like lightning. Matt could sense that it came from her body and was similar to the energy used by Steel Serpent's fist.

Quake punched her gauntlets together and aimed a fist at Matt. Elektra pulls out her twin sai and rushes Psylocke.

Matt disappeared from Quakes line of site. The younger girl yelps as Matt came in behind her and used his clubs to get her into a hold. "Yield," he said, applying more pressure to her neck. She laughs and holds onto one of Matt's Billy clubs very tightly. He felt her gauntlet vibrate as she did so.

Matt kicked her back and he felt his left Billy Club shake uncontrollably. The weapon exploded in his hand which sent him flying into the corner of the room. Quake's gauntlet and fists vibrated again and she sent a shock wave through the air. Matt rolled away, the move almost instinctual since the attack resembled Black Canary's canary cry. He couldn't get too close or stay too far. This was going to be a tough fight.

Elektra was fairing slightly better. She knew Psylocke's fighting style from them training together as kids. The purple haired assassin swiped up with her sword but Elektra ducked under the attack and tried to plunge her sai into the other girls shoulder.

Psylocke reversed her grip on the sword and swiped at Elektra's mid-section which was barely dodged. Elektra could feel the cracking pink energy slightly burn her skin, despite the blade not touching her.

She decided not to drag out the fight. Elektra stays still, waiting for the next attack. Psylocke lunges at her and Elektra side steps the attack and stabs the girl in the arm and kicks the katana out of her hand.

She pins the purple haired teen down and places the tip of the sai on her cheek. "Yield," she said in a menacing tone that Psylocke had heard before. "I'd rather not," she said. A pink butterfly like pattern appears on her head and Elektra felt dizzy. She could hear Psylocke's thoughts in her head.

Elektra resisted the psychic attack but that left her physically vulnerable. Which was what Psylocke wanted. A ninja in black appears behind Elektra and draws out a blade.

Matt hears the sound of metal cutting air and tries to go towards Elektra. But Quake cut him off and grabbed his second Billy Club. Matt felt it vibrate again and he had an idea.

The brunette started taunting Matt which he elected to ignore. He felt the weapon shake uncontrollably in his hand again. Matt knew that Quake was smiling, thinking she had won. But he returned a smile in turn and simply tossed the vibrating club, making it land at her feet.

"Oh sh…," she said as the weapon exploded, launching her into the air. She landed on her back, dazed and confused. Matt used this opportunity to go to Elektra who was struggling to fend off the psychic attack and the black robed ninja simultaneously.

Quake sees this and yells out something in Japanese which made Psylocke and the ninja jump onto the wall. She placed her hand on the floor and concentrated. The whole building vibrated and a large chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling.

Matt moves Elektra out of the way, but the concrete falls on top of him, trapping him under the rubble. He groans in pain and felt blood spurt out of his mouth. He was finding it hard to breath due to his current predicament. Elektra backs up to his location and her head shoots left and right. She sees dozens of ninja descend on their location. Most were black but a handful were red and there was one in blue, a young, still living recruit.

Psylocke helped Quake up, who exerted herself a bit too much with that last attack. Concentrated blasts took more effort. The two watched as Elektra did her best to cover Matt and saw her stab multiple ninja. Who disintegrated into a green fume.

The purple haired assassin threw a shuriken at Elektra which struck her in the shoulder. This left her exposed and a red clad ninja came in behind her and took her down to the floor.

She could see that another ninja had stood over Matt who was completely unaware of the threat. The blind teenager tried to lift the concrete off of him but he wasn't strong enough. The red robed ninja drew a sword and raised it above Matt's head. Matt flinched when he heard the noise, he could gather what was about to happen next.

Elektra closed her eyes, not wanting to see Matt get impaled. But she heard nothing. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the ninja that was above Matt had turned to dust. A dart enters the one that held her down and it fell. She picks up her sai and stabs two more ninja in the eyes.

Psylocke turns around to see where the unknown assailant was but a strong hand grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into a wall, knocking her out. Quake sees that the man who did it was short. Around 5'7 and was Asian. He had a head of white hair and a katana in his hand.

Quake grabs her friend and leaps out a window, their work was done anyways. The old man and Elektra deal with the remaining ninja, only restraining the blue clad recruit. He was to be interrogated later.

With Matt's help, the three move the slab of concrete off of him. Elektra helps him up and hugs him tight. She then punches him in the arm, making him rub it in pain. "Never risk your life for me again. Ok," she said forcefully and she hugged him again.

"Getting mixed signals here El," he said with a smile. The girl turns to the old man and embraces him as well. "Uncle Kato. It has been too long," she said making the old warrior smile.

Matt stares at his former mentor, a cacophony of emotions and thoughts ran through his head. He could tell that Kato was also unsure how to greet his former student.

"Kato," Matt said plainly. "Boy," the old man responded. Elektra wasn't sure what the deal was between the two but they didn't have the time to hash it out right now. "The prisoner?" She said, beckoning the two to accompany her.

Kato removes the recruits mask, revealing the face of a nameless thirteen year old boy. "What was the Hand doing here child? If you want to keep your tongue after this I suggest you make use of it," he spouted off in Japanese.

Matt decided to play good cop this time. He gives the young boy a friendly smile, "We'll let you go when we're done. I promise," he says in Japanese. The young recruit shivered in fear, he didn't expect his first assignment to end like this.

"The docks. I heard my masters say that they were distracting you from the docks," he said amidst tears. Kato loosens his grip on the boy who reveals more about the operation, that the Yakuza were importing something called 'The black sky'. "I suppose some strategies never change," the old warrior said.

The old blind man raises his sword and slices the boys throat. Letting him fall and bleed out on the floor. Elektra didn't seem phased by the action but Matt was completely horrified.

"You didn't need to kill him!" He shouted out. Kato whipped his blade with his sleeve, "The boy would have warned his superiors of our attempts to intercept their operation at the docks," he told Matt as if it were a fact. "Come now. We've no time to lose," he said jumping out the window.

Completely speechless Matt follows him along with Elektra.

'What the hell have I got myself into?' he thinks to himself.

* * *

The three were perched atop a crane for over an hour. Matt spotted some Yakuza hauling some equipment and heard a few muttering about something called "Black Sky." He also noticed that Nobu was present, giving his men instructions.

Matt had so many questions to ask Kato but he chose to withhold them for now. "How'd you know him?" Matt asks Elektra. The Greek girl looks at him and shrugs. "He was one of the men who trained me as a child along with Stick," she said. Matt recognised the name " _Stick_ " as the man who re-trained Kato when he started going blind.

But this just added to Matt's growing pile of questions. "I thought you said you and your sister were part of the Hand?" He asked impatiently.

"Lady Shiva took herself and Elektra away from the Chaste to join the Hand. Apparently, she wanted more of a challenge in life and decided to bring her younger sister to join those monsters as well," Kato said. Matt cursed himself for forgetting that Kato had enhanced hearing too.

"Monsters huh? I guess the Chaste must have a different definition of the word than most people. You know, since they seem fine with you killing unarmed men. Oh, and turning little boys into living weapons," Matt said, pointing to himself, scolding his former mentor.

Kato stood up and confronted Matt. "Seeing as though we are, as you Americans say, venting. I am very disappointed in you boy. You were one of the most naturally gifted fighters I have ever trained. I guided you for seven years. Seven years of training and you squander it by putting on a costume and punching malcontents on the streets. What's worse is that you aren't even efficient about it and refuse to kill the filth you fight," he said with a patronising tone.

Matt laughs. "Bit ironic coming from you Kato. You and Mr. Reid used to do the same thing in the eighties. Fighting crime, wearing costumes, not killing people. 'The Green Hornet and Kato.' At least I'm not dumb enough to use my real name," he said. Which made Elektra snigger.

The old fighter shakes his head. "Ten years. Ten years me and Reid did our best to clean the streets. We bled for this city and what for? Nothing. We changed nothing. The mobsters we helped arrest came back on the streets and just continued to hurt the innocent. Politicians continued to exploit the very people whom they swore to serve. At least with the Chaste, my actions have had lasting action," he said.

"So you're saying that all the people I saved deserved their fate. That the little guy doesn't need or deserve our help? You told me that you were teaching me to get stronger. So that I could help people. I've bled in the dirt for this city. I get hurt almost every night trying to protect it," Matt said adamantly.

Kato puts his hand to his hip. "You never finished your training. If you had, those street urchins would never have been able to harm you as much as they have."

"Funny. I don't recall ever asking you to leave me. My dad died and my mom was put into a coma. I needed you and you abandoned me!" Matt screamed out, grabbing Kato by the collar. Kato removes the young teens hands off of him. "Do you remember why I left you?" He asks rhetorically.

Matt looks down in shame and nods. Elektra stands there confused. Kato perceives this and chose to explain her boyfriend's shameful look.

"The boy here likes to preach about the sanctity of human life but it is all hypocritical. He tried to _kill_ the man who hurt his parents but another assassin got in the way and finished him off before he himself could. When he fought the assassin, my young apprentice, whom I wasted seven years of my time molding into the perfect warrior did the one thing I instructed him not to do. Fight in passion. And in that passion, an innocent woman died at his hand. And yet he has the gaul to lecture others about morality," he tells Elektra.

She thinks about what she just heard and understands his aversion to killing. She would have probably felt the same way if she killed someone who didn't deserve it. "But it was an accident. I did many questionable things with the Hand. Yet you helped me escape them," she says.

Kato nods. "Yes. But you were a victim. You had no choice in the matter. But he chose to pursue that assassin and now a young woman is in the grave prematurely because of that choice."

"Mary. Her name was Mary. I visit her grave every other week. Just to remind myself," Matt said softly. "Remind yourself of what exactly?" Kato asks the red-clad teen.

Matt breathes out slowly. "I know I'm going to hell for what I did. But I don't care. I'll make sure no one else dies at the hands of the wicked and damned. If I have to save one innocent life but die in the process, it doesn't matter. The world losses nothing if I'm gone," he says. Elektra looks at Matt with a look of both pity and admiration. She wasn't sure how someone could have such little regard for their own life and yet feel responsible enough to save the lives of others.

Their conversation ended when a ship came to port and a different crane lowered a container. Matt cleared his head and assessed the situation.

"There are two levels where the guards are positioned. The railings and ground. I'll take the ones on the top, Elektra, you fight the guys on the ground. Kato, you're support. I felt that bow of yours in that pack. But no kill shots," he instructed. Elektra nodded and Kato, stunned at the boys assertive nature agreed to follow the instructions. He needed to get rid of the package anyway and it would be more efficient if he was at a distance.

Kato assembles his bow whilst the younger fighters take down Nobu's men, silently. They were too far from Nobu himself and the smattering of people near the container. Matt and Elektra hide in the shadows whilst the men open the doors to the container. Kato draws his bow, waiting for them to open wide enough.

The Yakuza open the doors and a sound enters Matt's ears. A heartbeat of a child. The black sky was a child and Kato was aiming an arrow right at him.

Matt rushes forward as Kato fires the arrow. He leaps upwards and spins allowing the arrow to hit him in the chest, where his armour was strongest and he landed on the floor, unharmed. The Yakuza fire at Matt who hides behind a few more containers. Nobu orders a few of his men to get the boy but they are stabbed in the legs by Elektra.

Daredevil beats up the ones with guns and stands besides Elektra to face Nobu. The Yakuza boss looks at the girl, "Elektra-Kun, Akuma-San. Pleasure to see you again," he said politely, bowing down.

The black sky sees Matt and runs towards him. He's heard of the Devil of Hell's kitchen on the TV in his village. He was a hero like Superman and Batman. Matt embraces the child and hides him between himself and Elektra.

Nobu sees this and smiles. "Normally I would just engage the largest threat myself and have my men take the child. But my men are down and whilst Akuma-San cannot defeat me, he certainly will stall me long enough for Elektra-Kun to sneak away with the child. So to save us all some time and energy I shall let you two go," he said. His deep voice sounded sincere, as did his heartbeat.

Matt nodded and walked away with the child and Elektra. "One more thing. My master surpasses my combat abilities. If you cannot defeat me, how do you expect to challenge her?" Nobu asks Matt who ignored him and focuses on getting the child safe.

'But he does have a point,' Matt thinks to himself. Nobu is only second in command of the Hand. If Lady Shiva is even half as dangerous as he heard then he wouldn't stand a chance against her.

* * *

The two waited with the child who spoke a tongue they couldn't recognise. They resorted to pointing at things and hand gestures to communicate with him.

Matt contacted the League and briefly explained the situation. The Flash was set to pick the kid up and put him under the temporary care of Zatara, the League's resident magician. Elektra informed Matt that black sky's were said to have certain mystical properties so who better to look after him, at least for a while.

After they finished with that business Elektra decided to head back home. She was exhausted by today's ordeal. They kissed and she was about to leave but just as she reached the edge of the building they were standing on she turned around.

"Just for the record Matthew. I think that you're no killing policy. Whilst unrealistic is quite noble. God only knows the world needs more people like you," she says.

He smirks and looks away. "I'm not noble," he said. "Just a guy trying to do the right thing. I'm not even sure what that is anymore," he continues. She places her hand on his cheek and kisses him again. "Don't sell yourself short," she whispers and jumps off of the building.

"Speaking of the right thing," he says to himself. "Time to see the old man."

* * *

Kato was packing his small bag with the essentials. He had established multiple safe houses throughout the city and now he needed to leave. The mission was a failure. The blind man felt a draft behind him and he turned around.

"You remembered the old hide out. You aren't as thick headed as I thought boy," Kato said, putting the bag on his back. Matt's heartbeat was steady. Unnaturally steady. He was trying to hide his true intentions.

"Why'd you try to kill that kid?" Matt asks, barely keeping his temper in check. "That _thing_ was a vessel. A potential host for a demonic entity the Hand wishes to resurrect. And you set it free," the old man said, disappointed in Matt's choice.

Matt's hands were twitching slightly, Kato could smell the adrenaline coursing through his body. "So you decide to kill him. A child, for something he had no control over? What kind of people do you work for? Good guys don't kill kids," he says.

Kato laughs derisively. "There aren't any 'good guys' in this war. Just the living and the dead. If I have to kill a handful of people to save billions, I will do so in a heartbeat. The mathematics is simple," he said.

Matt stepped forward. "You can't judge a life based on math," he said, his anger was now clear in his speech. Kato did not back down. "Like it or not boy. You are now part of this war. If you cannot make the hard choices then you are useless to those you proclaim to protect. It's no wonder you failed to save your father that night."

That was the final straw. Matt punched Kato in the face hard enough to make him bleed but he stayed up right. The old warrior wipes the blood off of his lips and sighs. "So predictable," he says and strikes Matt three times in the jaw before he could even blink.

The teenager flipped back to increase distance. But Kato rushes forward and kicks Matt before he even landed. The teenager laid on the floor, more stunned than hurt. He forgot how fast his mentor was.

He tried to lift himself off of the floor but he was too slow for Kato's liking. He kicks the younger fighter in the ribs. "Get up," he says waiting for Matt to try and stand again only to kick him again. "I said get up boy," he said again. His leg went back, about to kick him again but Matt had enough.

He grabbed the foot before it hit him and he lifted Kato's leg up, trying to knock him off balance. But Kato simply grabbed a nearby shuriken and threw it at Matt who rolled forward to dodge it and got back up.

This, however, distracted him long enough for the old man to rapidly strike him in the leg and face multiple times making Matt stumble backwards. The teenager resists the temptation to fall and give in and removes two batons from the wall, swinging them in an attempt to hit Kato at least once.

But the more experienced fighter could predict his movements easily. He parries a few attacks and then strikes Matt in the wrists, making him drop the weapons to the ground. Kato starts bobbing up and down like a boxer. He hadn't felt his blood rushing like this in so long. "Remember who taught you how to fight boy," he said.

That statement gave Matt an idea. 'What about using something I learned from someone else?' he thought. He circles Kato, who was still bouncing up and down. Matt flips forwards to try and deliver a bicycle kick to Kato's jaw.

The older fighter predicted this and slammed his upper body into Matt as he was mid-flip. He grabs his shoulders and makes the teenager fall to the ground. But that was what Matt wanted. He locks his legs around Kato's hips and flips him around, which made Matt the one on top.

Matt got his mentors arm in a hold and applied pressure to the socket. "Give up," he demanded, pushing more, almost dislocating the old man's arm. Kato responded by trying to hit Matt who just applied a modicum of extra pressure and dislocated the arm.

He flipped him on his back and got Kato in a choke hold and used his leg to trap his other, still functioning arm. "Just. Give. Up. Now!" he demanded. The old man was stubborn but not stupid. He knew he couldn't get out of this without weapons.

Kato tapped Matt on the arm and the teenager let go. Inhaling deeply Kato shook his head as he got up. Matt felt satisfied with himself. 'Thank you Black Canary,' he thought somewhat light heatedly. His ground game needed improving and her training helped immensely.

"Well. At least I know you've improved since last I saw you," Kato says, dusting off his clothes. He banged his shoulder against a pillar, putting his arm back in place.

Matt looks at him bewildered. "Wait, wait, wait. That was a test?" He asked. Kato nodded. "Yes. Well, the fight was anyways. I would have attempted to kill the black sky regardless if you had assisted me or not. You failed to control your emotions, as I predicted but you defeated me in combat fair and square. Next time I'll try not to hold back."

'That was him holding back?' Matt thought to himself not sure what to think at this point. Kato removes a cloth bundle from his back and unravels it.

He removes the contents and reveals two Katana and a few old scrolls. "You will need these in the future. I hope you remember to practice your kenjutsu," Kato says, bowing to Matt as he gave him the items in question. Matt bowed in turn out of some semblance of respect and received the gifts.

"I shall be off then. Until next time. Matthew," Kato said almost kindly and walked out of the lair. "Also, keep that team of super powered children safe. We might have use of them in the future," he says as he walked out of the door. 'He knows about the team? Of course, he does,' he thought to himself.

Matt sits down. So much had happened today and he needed time to process it. He unsheathed the first sword. He felt the broad side of the blade and felt the kangi runes engraved in it. "Hmm… Magic. The symbols for burn, bleed and cut. Weird," he said to himself after analysing the blade.

He sheathes that sword back in its black scabbard, which had brail on the side to indicate the colour. He then unsheathed the second sword. This had a red sheath and hilt. But that's not what interested Matt. This sword had a reverse blade. The front curve was blunt and the back was sharp.

There was an inscription on a note attached to it. Matt traced his fingers on the text to read it. "Forged for the man who fights for peace in a violent world. For you my son - Kato."

A sword that could not kill.

'He must have had it made after I became a vigilante', he thinks to himself, feeling the blunt edge of the blade. The teenager sheaths the swords and wraps up the two weapons along with the scrolls back into the cloth. He holds the bundle in his hands with conflicted feelings. Not knowing if he was ready for the fight he would eventually need its contents for. Not sure if he was willing to fight this war at all.

* * *

 **That's a wrap.**

 **Hope you liked this chapter. I borrowed a lot from the episode Stick from season one of Daredevil. So credit goes to those guys.**

 **Also, I'd love to hear if you guys like the Hell's kitchen stuff and any feedback would be awesome.**

 **Next chapter, Matt fights a few soldiers in a desert with the team. (Need to skip a few episodes here and there since adding Matt to some of these stories literally adds nothing to them.)**

 **I hope I responded to all the comments on the previous chapter via PM. If not feel free to crucify me.**

 **Now the guest comments that I can't PM:**

 **Baron Bolt: Taskmaster would be an interesting add to the mix. Yeah  
**

 **Me: I considered putting him in but decided that he wasn't really mystical enough for the Hand. Might use him after that story line's over though. Thanks for the comment, keeps me going.**

 **Fairysarecute: Please update!  
**

 **Me: Your wish has been granted.**

 **Until then. See you all later.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Bereft** :

 **Bialya, September 4th, 2010** :

It was a bright and toasty morning in New York. A day where most children would have chosen to go outside to play with their friends. Punking the neighbours, ride bikes, trade Pokémon cards, that sort of thing. But Matt had no such luck. He was forced to help maintain a shop for an old man since he stole from it the day before for a prank.

His foster brother was working like a dog, sweeping the floors vigorously after he had finished washing the windows. Matt was about to help him but sees the old shop owner limping on the street. A few hundred yards away from him was a truck and the driver did not seem to show any indication of stopping.

Matt's legs sprang forward automatically. He ran towards the old man and pushes him out of the way. The driver sees a young boy on the street and makes a rapid turn, accidentally letting lose the contents within the vehicle.

Barrels fall out and a liquid pours out of them. Matt was on the floor, not sure if it was safe to move so he opens his eyes to check, only to see the green liquid come towards him.

It would be the last thing he'd ever see.

His vision blackens and his face burns. He puts his hands over his eyes to try and stop the pain but it did nothing. He still felt his skin blistering.

"I can't see. I can't see!" he shouts out, panicking and unable to move.

* * *

He wakes up, breathing heavily, his body covered in beads of sweat. A nightmare. A very vivid nightmare; that felt more like a memory. He swore he could still feel the toxic waste coursing through his veins as if it just happened moments ago.

Matt checked his surroundings. First thing he noticed was that with the exception of his pants and helmet all his armor had been removed. The air around him was dry, bereft of any moisture except that which evaporated from his body.

He tries to move his arms but finds that he has been hoisted half a foot off of the ground. His arms extended in a cross-like position thanks to the chains that tied him to the ceiling of what appeared to be a reinforced tent.

Matt checks for heartbeats. Dozens of armed men were in his radius but none in the tent except for one very distinct and familiar heartbeat. A tall, lanky figure cloaked in black comes steps in front of the teenager.

He starts clapping. "Bravo. I must say, you're psychic defenses are impeccable. Pity you don't have telepathy yourself, you would have been a natural," he said with a somewhat high pitched voice. The man had pale, albino-like skin. His brain was visible through his skull, thanks to a clear dome, which had a few white stripes running over it. He had hollow cheeks and a very inquisitive glare. Matt felt like he was being studied like an animal.

"Where's my team?" Matt asks the bald man. He puts his finger on the teenagers lips. "Psimon says shh," he said patronizingly. Matt was tempted to bite the finger but decided not to. He needed to figure out what happened.

He retraced his steps. Batman assigned the team on a mission to Biyala. A desert nation under a dictatorship run by a metahuman called Queen Bee. All he could recall afterwards were instructions about maintaining radio silence, them setting up camp and Matt himself instructing M'gann to check in one of the tents after a zeta radiation spike was detected.

Matt thought it was reasonable to assume he was still near where they had made their base but he couldn't hear his teammates anywhere. He asks Psimon again, "Where are they?"

The tall man simply taps Matt's helmet. "Magnetically sealed cowl. Lead plating and a terrible colour scheme. The lead stopped my powers from affecting you like the others but what I find interesting is the resistance to the subsequent mental intrusion. It's as if any data I can visualise ends in your youth. Rather unusual," he trails off, busy with his own thoughts.

'Must have mind wiped the team,' Matt thought. He tries to move his wrists but all he managed to do was dig the metal deeper into his skin. But he notes that the chains weren't very securely fastened to the roof. Psimon notices the movement and grabs his head, allowing Matt to hear his thoughts.

'A blunt psychic attack might not work on you. But I suspect your pain receptors work the same as everyone else. I simply have to give the right parts of your brain a push and everything will come out,' he thought with a snide smile. Matt's face was expressionless, impressing the villain.

A stick like finger moves towards Matt's bare torso and he touches one of his scars. Matt's pupils dilate and he feels the claws of a bear tear through his flesh and he lets out a loud scream. Psimon removes his finger and the pain stops. He then lightly touches a healed wound on his shoulder and Matt was brought back to when he failed to stop Bullseye and he felt serrated metal penetrate his bones and skin. This makes him shake in agony and scream again.

Psimon smiles once more and Matt couldn't keep his emotionless facade. The worried look was clear on the uncovered half of his face. For the first time in a long time he felt like his enhanced senses were a burden.

'Your body still vividly remembers the pain. Unusual, very unusual. I would love to stay and make further observations but I have other matters to attend to. Your interrogation will be handled by more experienced men,' he tells Matt mentally. He talks to someone behind the door and Matt's new interrogator appeared.

He wore a white hood attached to a cape. His face was concealed by a skull-shaped mask. An assortment of weapons adorned his body. A sword, shield, bow and arrows and various others. "Taskmaster," Matt said slowly, recognizing the outline of the villain.

"Daredevil. Kinda hoped I'd fight you at your best. Well, a guy's gotta make do," he said nonchalantly as he prodded Matt on his abdomen. He hissed as the pain from a stray javelin reentered his body. Taskmaster sees the plethora of scars across the vigilante's body. Plenty of options for torture.

* * *

M'gann flew across the night sky of the desert with a mixture of delight and confusion. She was on earth, the actual earth. She had spent decades absorbing media from her sister planet, courtesy of the earth media provided by her uncle J'onn but she never imagined if she would ever actually ever visit it. It was a dream come true.

Pity she couldn't remember how she got there. She landed after feeling a splitting headache and decides to traverse the land on foot. The pain in her head affected her co-ordination and she slips, tumbling down a sand dune. "Is this even real?" she asks herself after getting up.

A large cloud of dust erupts next to her and she steps back. After the dust cleared, a young, black haired, blue-eyed teenager with a black t-shirt with Superman's symbol on the chest was revealed. He looked around with an animalistic glare, as if he were a predator surveying a foreign territory.

Miss Martian recognises he symbol. "Wait. I-I've seen that symbol. Are you Superman?" she asks trepidatiously. The feral boy looks down at his chest and yells in disgust. He proceeds to rip off his shirt. He lunges at the Martian who levitates herself up to avoid the savage attack.

Superboy leaps upwards in an attempt to strike but she extends her arms and erects a telekinetic barrier. Upon impact it sends the Kryptonian flying backwards but the effort almost knocks out M'gann. The clone did not understand what manner of creature he was fighting and fled, wanting to isolate himself from anymore annoyances.

Miss Martian sees the iconic 'S' from his shirt land on a shriveled piece of wood and looks at the fleeing Kryptonian. She puts her knees against her chest and curls up into a ball. 'Not a dream. A nightmare,' she thinks to herself.

* * *

After four years of working with Batman, Dick thought he was used to waking up in weird places under unusual circumstances. But being woken up but the taste of sand in your mouth and raw sunlight entering the lenses of his mask was odd even for him. He felt like a car ran over his head and he struggled to summon the energy to stand. He sees that the sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was just before noon.

He walked passed some large rocks but stops when he hears a truck nearby. He takes cover and sees Bialyian soldiers drive past him. Robin opens his wrist-mounted computer, "What are Bialyian soldiers doing in...Bialya. Ok, better question. What am I doing in Bialya?" he asks in after seeing his GPS location. He takes a look at the date and noticed that it said that the month was September. "What happened to March? Better radio Batman," he says in an alarmed tone.

His finger moves to activate his ear piece but suddenly remembers Batman giving him explicit instructions to maintain radio silence. A deflated look appears on his face. "Maybe not."

He leaps down from where the rocks and rolls down to soften the landing. He notices a piece of black cloth on some wood. He goes and picks it up and sees a red Superman symbol on it.

The young detective looks at the piece of cloth, trying to understand what was happening with what little evidence he had.

* * *

The sun was now setting in the desert and under most circumstances Wally would be panicking right about now. He was in a shed and had no idea where he was or how long he had been there. His suit was black instead of the usual yellow. He swore he was a few inches taller than he remembered and there was an attractive blonde girl in a green suit right in front of him.

Granted, he wasn't complaining about that last part but he still had so many questions. He sees her stir and he slowly nudges her. "Hey beautiful, wake up," he says softly. The girl puts her hand on her head and sees a grinning Wally standing over her.

She grabs her bow and moves backwards in a panic, standing against the wall. "Hey, hey. It's ok. I'm one of the good guys. You know, Kid Flash," he says pointing to himself, trying to sound impressive.

Artemis gives him a sceptical look. "I've seen Kid Flash on the news. He doesn't wear black," she says with a parched mouth. Wally looks at his costume with the same scepticism. "Um, yeah. Trying to figure that one out too. What about you? Green Arrow fixation?" he asks, gesturing to her costume.

She looks down and tries to cover her exposed midriff. "Who put me in this?" she shouts out loud, which made Wally a bit squeamish. "Wow. I am not touching that with a ten foot...So, you know how to use that bow?" he asks, trying to shift the topic.

Artemis bends back the string, testing the tension. "Yeah, my dad taught me," she then had a sudden realisation. "Dad. He must have done this. Another one of his stupid tests."

"What kind of tests?" the speedster asks. She stares at him. "He probably wants me to kill you," she says as if her dad asked her to do something mildly annoying like forcing her to clean the house.

The two hear something come towards them. They exit the shack and see three tanks and a jeep full of soldiers coming right at them. A tank fires a shell at the shed and the explosion sends the two flying across the sand.

The jeep was the fastest of the vehicles and a man on the mounted machine gun fired at the teens. Artemis drew an explosive arrow from her quiver and fires it at the jeeps front tires, melting the rubber and ruining the engine.

She sees the tanks aiming their turrets and she draws another arrow. The two fire simultaneously but Artemis yelps in surprise when she sees the tanks grow smaller in the distance and felt an immense wind hit her face.

Looking up the archer sees Kid Flash's face straining in the effort of carrying her and running in his hunger-induced state simultaneously. "Sorry. They've got bigger arrows," he said. She couldn't argue with his logic and let her carry him. "Oh. What was that thing about your dad trying to kill me?"

* * *

Matt woke up in shock as ice cold water was poured on his now sensitive skin. The individual drops felt like red hot coals against his body. He tries to let out a scream but he can't. His throat was raw from the effort an eternity ago.

By his count Taskmaster had been torturing him for well over twelve hours. Matt had to give the man credit. He certainly knew what he was doing.

The worst part about torture isn't just the pain. But the time the victim lies in suspense moments before. Matt has used that strategy before. Ask a question, break or bruise something if they don't answer and then threaten to cause more pain if they still refuse to cooperate. The knowledge that some unknown pain even greater than the one you were currently subjected to can drive anyone crazy. Matt was not enjoying being on the receiving end of that process.

But currently the one who was in a state of irritation wasn't Matt. "Look kid. I get you've got the whole hard badass thing going for you but for Pete's sake. I need you to give me something!" he says inches from Matt's face. He was happy he couldn't see the mercenaries face since if the breath behind the mask was any indication, he didn't care much for personal hygiene.

He slaps drives a fist into Matt's gut, aggravating an old wound he got from Amazo. The teenager felt like he was transported back to that fight and his head slumped downwards, his arms grabbing the chains that held him on the air. The pain overwhelming him one time too many.

Taskmaster sighs. He beckons for one of the soldiers to come into the tent. "Take care of him. I need to take a leak," he said, adjusting his costume as he left the tent.

The Bialyan soldier covered his nose and looked away. The skull masked villain could knock out a skunk with his stench.

After hearing Taskmaster's footsteps move far enough away Matt clasped the chains even tighter. He'd spent hours moving the chains every time Taskmaster inflicted any kind of major pain on his body. Which was often.

He over exaggerated his reactions and violently shook the chains any chance he got. Taskmaster got a thrill every time Matt screamed and never noticed this.

Whatever Psimon did to Matt was not going to wear off any time soon. But he had a responsibility to keep his team safe. Crippling pain wasn't going to stop a Murdock from doing his duty.

Matt pulled on the chains with the few reserves of strength he had left. The now weak reinforcements of the chains ached like Matt's body as they struggled in vain to keep him restrained. He gritted his teeth and gave one last pull and the satisfying sound of metal clashing against sand entered his ears.

The solder fumbles as he reaches for his gun, giving Matt enough time to use the chains like whips to disarm the man. He strikes him in the chin, almost knocking him out. Matt ties the chains around his own forearms and wraps a portion of the chains around the guards neck.

The metal was wreaking havoc against his scarred arms but he bit his lip and powered through. He exits the tent and demands that the soldiers near him drop their weapons.

Seeing that they weren't listening to him he applies more pressure to the soldier's neck, making his face turn bright pink. He must have had a high rank since the other men disarmed themselves almost immediately.

Matt walks towards a Jeep, the soldier still in tow. He hears a young recruit try and sneaks up on him and the young hero responds by making his hold on the soldiers neck tighter.

The young man backs down and Matt enters the jeep. He commands one of the soldiers to start the vehicle and Matt drove off away from the base.

After a few miles, he ditched the vehicle and the soldier, hearing the men at the base getting ready to pursue. The chains were still around his arms. He didn't have time to make the Biaylians uncuff him.

The soft desert sand felt like coarse and rough sandpaper. "Great. Now I'm taking like Anakin Skywalker," he whines to himself. His legs shiver and he falls down.

He takes deep breaths. "They need you. Don't die yet," he tells himself quietly. He hears someone yell in Bialyan a few hundred meters away from him.

Disappointed that he didn't make as much ground as he thought Matt groans as he stands up. The soldiers surround him in a circle and point their guns at him.

Not having the energy to fight back Matt puts his hands behind his back and closes his eyes behind his mask, waiting for the inevitable. "Not so fast," a voice said behind a row of soldiers.

Taskmaster emerges from the mob, his entire arsenal adorned his body along with the undeniable smell of excrement.

The Merc cracks his knuckles and Matt could perceive the smile behind his mask. "You've got a five million bounty on your head. One of many actually. I kill you and I'm set for life," he said in a smug tone.

Matt removes a few lengths of chain and wraps them around his knuckles. He needed every advantage he could get.

Taskmaster flipped forward and executed a bicycle kick. Matt rolled backwards and took a few seconds to get back up. 'That… No. It couldn't be,' he thought. The skull masked man threw a straight right. Matt crossed his arms to block but felt nothing. He then felt something come towards his exposed right side.

A white-gloved fist was driven into Matt's liver and then an uppercut to his jaw. Matt flopped onto the ground and Taskmaster saw that the hero had worked it out.

'He's mimicking my fighting style. Perfectly,' Matt thinks as he wipes the sweat from his face. He breathes in a few times and gets back up.

He wouldn't give up without a fight. It wasn't in his blood.

* * *

M'gann spent the day flying across the barren planes of the desert. She saw the sun setting behind her and was surprised by how much longer a day was on earth than it was back on Mars. 'I can't believe it. I'm actually on earth. Even if it's not _exactly_ how it is on TV. But why can't I remember how I got here?' she thinks to herself.

She stops and hovers inches above the ground, crossing her legs and sitting in a meditative position. 'Concentrate,' she thinks and her eyes glow a bright green. She cycles through her memories. She sees the boy with the Superman shirt but he wasn't in the desert. It was as if they were in a kitchen. An actual earth kitchen.

She remembered that she was holding something. A tray of cookies? She sees the boy from before pick one up. "Careful Superboy. They're hot," she said kindly. A yellow blur appears and the cookie disappears from the clones hand.

"Not as hot as you babe," Kid Flash said, eating it in one gulp which made Superboy visibly grumpy. "Thanks, Wally, that's uh...sweet?" she said. Wally ate another cookie, "Not as sweet as you sugar," he said winking at her playfully.

The speedster felt someone hit him in the head, "Grow up," Artemis said with an irritated growl as she and Robin took some cookies of their own. She remembers seeing a red glove pick up another cookie. "Seriously Wally, learn some manners. Miss M, these are awesome," Daredevil said, smiling at the Martian.

M'gann's trip down memory lane ended when she remembered Batman ordering the teenagers down to the briefing room. Her eyes return to their normal color and she is brought back to the present. "I'm on a team! I have friends!" she says out loud excitedly. Then she fingers the collar of her cape. "And a Superboy who might be… I need to find him. Wait, them," she said, stumbling on her own words.

She flies back the route she came by, thinking that she has a better chance finding her friends if she circles back. M'gann puts her fingers against her head. 'Hello? Team?' she asks telepathically. After receiving no response she figures that they might be out of her telepathic range.

* * *

Wally had been running with the blonde girl in her arms for almost an hour and it was taking its toll. Even Artemis could tell that he was getting slower with every few hundred steps. He stops near a rock face and lets her jump out of his arms. He grabs his stomach and breathes heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"Sorry. Running on empty. Don't think I've eaten in a while," he tells her, wiping his brow. He checks the compartment in his glove to see if he has any speedster protein bars for him to munch on. But they were barren.

Wally groans in frustration, "We've been out here for over twenty-four hours. Or my cupboards wouldn't be empty," he said. The two were taken aback after a shirtless boy landed between them, sending a dust cloud dozens of feet high into the air.

Artemis flipped backward to avoid any confrontation but Wally was in too much shock to react. The feral boy screams at the speedster and back hands him into a rock, taking him out of the fight. The mindless Superboy turned his attention on to Artemis who removed an explosive arrow out of her quiver.

She fires the weapon at him but it irritates him more than anything else. She fires two more at him but the explosions don't remotely phase him and he comes at her like a locomotive. She roles forward and narrowly dodges his assault.

Superboy screams in the air in range but is soon stopped after a shell explodes right next to him, which sends Artemis flying away from the blast. In the distance, M'gann feels Superboy cry out in pain via her telepathy. She stops and heads in that direction.

Two tanks roll in, prepared to fire at Superboy again. Artemis and Wally get up, groggy from the hits they took. They see the shirtless boy jump on top of one of the tanks and remove its gun from the turret like it was wet paper. A soldier opens the hatch and fires an assault rifle at his back. The bullets harmlessly bounce off of him and he throws the surprised man out of the tank.

He grabs the turret itself and with some effort, he lifts it over his head. The remaining soldiers jump out of their now useless vehicle and the other tanks fires at the clone, launching him into the air once more.

Wally and Artemis look at the sight in amazement. "Whose side is he on?" Artemis asks. Wally walks next to her. "Wanna stick around and find out?" he asks rhetorically. The sight of Superboy dismantling the other tank with ease answered that question and he picked her up and ran off into the distance.

Kid Flash started to run down a sand dune but a rock trips him up and the two tumble down the sandy hill. The two look up and see two plane like drones fly over them. They start firing at the teenagers and Wally pushes Artemis to the ground, avoiding the bullets.

The drones lower their altitude and fly over them again. They rolled in the air and made their way back to the two so that they could fire at their targets once more. Artemis closes one eye to aid in her accuracy and draws an arrow, aiming at one of the drones.

But just before she fires a voice appears in her head. 'Don't worry guys, I'm almost there,' she hears. The arrow misses by a long shot and Artemis turns to Wally. "Did you just hear a girl talking in your head?" she asks him, hoping that she hadn't gone crazy.

"Girls are always on my mind. But they usually aren't the ones talking," he responds. Artemis started to wonder why she even bothered talking to him.

Miss Martian flew above the drones who did not detect her. She claps her hands together and with her telekinesis manipulated the flaps on their wings and made the two drones crash into each other midair.

She lands in front of Wally and Artemis and smiles. "Well, J'onn. The costume looks familiar but I'm not sure the new bod screams 'Manhunter' you know?" Wally says. "You know my uncle J'onn? Hello Megan. Of course you do, you're Kid Flash, Wally and you're Artemis," M'gann says, gesturing at the two.

"Martian Manhunter has a niece? Is that how you know my name?" Kid Flash asks. Artemis puts her hands on her hips, "Your name's really Wally?" she asks with a mixture of amusement and disappointment which made him sigh.

M'gann saw his negative reaction and wanted to reassure him. "No, it's ok. We're teammates. Friends," she says cheerfully. Artemis looks at Wally with a puzzled look. "You know her?" she asks. Wally goes into a state of panic. "No beautiful, I swear. I've never seen her before in my life."

"You both lost your memories too," M'gann says in dismay. She sees three jeeps filled with soldiers driving towards were the drones landed. She tilts her head and gives the two a large smile. "Come on. I'll fill you in. Robin, Daredevil and Superboy need our help," she said.

The girls start walking and Wally shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, of course. Robin, Daredevil and who now?" he asks.

* * *

The sand between the circle of soldiers never settled. The shuffling of feet always displaced it, obscuring their vision in a natural smokescreen. If one were to start watching the fight now, they might assume Daredevil was in full costume, a muted red.

But Matt's torso was still bare. It's just that he was covered in so many bruises that his skin looked like that of a peeled tomato. At this point he was barely throwing any punches. His legs stopped working long ago and he didn't even bother to dodge.

The only advantage to Psimon's pain manipulation was that his body now was completely numb. If he felt any pain from Taskmaster's attacks it was just masked with the pain he had been subjected to hours earlier.

He decided to employ the strategy his father used when he was a boxer, let the other guy hit you long enough so that their knuckles would break. How he never got punch drunk was beyond Matt's understanding.

Taskmaster pounded away at the teenager for so long that he could barely feel his hands anymore. It was like Daredevil became a living punching bag made of steel like flesh. The sound of the chains around his wrists, metal against metal was grating to the mercenary. He mimicked Daredevil's style perfectly. He had spent hours analysing footage and learning his routines and tricks. Which was routine for any fighter he was keen on confronting.

Hell, he even learned how to fight with his head tilted away from his opponent just like the hero did. Granted, in Daredevil's post-tortured state he wasn't expecting much of a fight but this was beyond pathetic. Taskmaster realised that his arms would probably give in before he beat Daredevil to death.

Not wanting to be humiliated any further the skull masked merc reached for the sword hung across his back. Matt heard gloved fingers caress the leather of the hilt. The sound of metal sliding out of the sheath put him back into mind set of dodging.

Taskmaster flourished his sword and spun around, doing pirouettes while swiping in the air. Matt figured it was an attempt at intimidation but all this was to Matt was a chance to take a breather and figure out who Taskmaster would be mimicking now.

He swiped his sword downwards in an arc and Matt raised his chain covered arm to block the attack. The blade glanced across his helmet slightly as he did so, making him stumble back. Taskmaster made more wild swings at the half-dead hero and Matt blocked each attack with his chains, which acted as a sort of improvised armor.

But this did not seem to phase the mercenary. He was barely putting any effort into the attacks. This did not matter to Matt as each time he blocked an attack, he felt his muscles give in gradually. Soon, the mere act of lifting his arms took every ounce of willpower he had left in him.

Sparks flew as the sword strikes came in faster and harder. He knew he would have to sharpen his sword for at least an hour after the way he was using it currently but he did not care, he watched too many medieval fantasy movies to learn these moves and he finally had the opportunity to show them off.

Matt couldn't raise his arm to block the next attack and the sword hit him straight in the forehead, he felt his armor drive into his skin. Taskmaster knew that the dance was over and moved in for the kill. He aimed the blade for Matt's chest and extended his arms forward, lunging at him.

The scars on Matt's torso tingled slightly. It was as if his body remembered a similar kind of pain before. Instinctively he leapt back like a frog, avoiding the sharp metal which was inches away from where the wound was. Matt remembered a sword hitting him on the chest once from his training and felt that pain again when Taskmaster almost hit him.

Matt let the chain loose and spun it around. The strength required to do so was expending what little energy he had left but he had nothing to lose at this point. The mercenary looked at Matt and was unsure of where to strike next. He spun to the left and swung his sword but Matt deflected it by twisting his wrist and sending the chain onto the tip of the sword.

This distracted him long enough for Matt to spin the chain faster and to use the momentum to swing it towards the sword. It wrapped around it's metal body and Matt gave a quick yank, disarming Taskmaster.

The white hooded man removed the shield from his back. Matt wrapped the chains around his wrist again, using a few lengths to cover his knuckles. Matt ran towards him and threw a straight right. Taskmaster raised his shield and Matt's fist hit the centre of the shield. His hands were unharmed thanks to the chains so he grabbed the shield and raised it up.

Matt kicked Taskmaster in the chest but fell down in the process. Taskmaster was knocked to the floor and Matt swiped his chain like a whip despite being down himself, just so that he could get up first.

Taskmaster rolled forward and performed a spinning back kick to the arm that was launching the chains. He then threw a right cross at Matt who predicted it and ducked. Matt grabbed the shield and curled up into a ball, flipping to the side along with the shield.

The older fighter let go of the shield so that his arm wouldn't be broken, allowing Matt the chance to disarm him and wield the shield himself. Taskmaster performed a few combinations that were familiar to Matt and a series of fists and elbows struck the shield which Matt was now currently using to protect himself.

Matt hit Taskmaster in the chin with the shield and then threw it at him, since it was too heavy for him to lug around for too long. Dodging the projectile, the merc drew a knife and Matt felt the scars in his arms burning. He has far too much experience with knife wounds.

His body automatically grabbed Taskmasters wrists and twisted them, making him drop the knife. Matt headbutts him and makes him fall. The once pristine white of Taskmasters costume as now contaminated by the stain of his blood and the dust of the desert.

Matt smirked, his scars were a reminder of his mistakes. They reminded him never to repeat them and now, thanks to Psimon ironically, the pain he had once forgotten was now saving his life.

'Embrace pain. Never run from it or be afraid of it. That's what gets you killed,' he remembers Kato telling him once when he was a kid. Those words have never rung truer than today.

He could hear the soldiers muttering amongst themselves, placing bets on who they thought would win. The two fighters lock eyes or at least that's how Matt interpreted it. This fight was far from over and both of them knew it.

* * *

The sound of sand scraping below the soles of his boots was starting to irritate Dick. He had been jogging in the desert for hours, looking at his holographic display the whole time, trying to find a way past the border but too many men patrolled the area he was in.

The young hero eventually noticed that he had placed a GPS marker at a certain location and ran off to iitslocation. He wished he had paid more attention to Bruce when he was teaching him how to regulate his breathing since he was sweating far too much, even though it was night time now in Bialya.

"Why would I put a marker here?" he asked himself, stopping and checking his surroundings. He sees a rectangular object in the sand below the dune he was standing on and ducks, not wanting to risk being seen by a potential enemy drone.

Realising that it was not hostile Robin figured that that thing was the reason why he had marked this location. He raised his head just high enough above the dune so he could scour the site of the unknown device.

He was about to leap down to analyse it further but he hears something in the distance. He crawls on his belly and moves slightly closer so that he could interpret the noise more clearly. Robin removes a pair of binoculars from his belt since all he could make out were dots in the distance. Upon zooming in he sees what the commotion was about.

A man in a white hood and bloody skull mask was fighting someone. Although the teenager was shirtless and had chains around his arms the horned helmet was unmistakable. Daredevil. Dick spots the trail of footprints behind the two fighters and sees that they must stretch on for miles.

The soldiers looked like they were the acting audience members of a boxing match, jeering, sweating, throwing obscene hand gestures etc. Dick only remembers meeting the blind hero a handful of times but he wasn't going to let him fight alone. He puts away his binoculars and makes his way towards Matt's location.

* * *

Matt was beyond the point of exhaustion right now. Every movement was now just a limp reflex, he hadn't the energy to put any thought into his movements. Taskmaster was not faring much better. The mercenary was emulating as many fighting styles as he could but nothing seemed to make Daredevil go down.

The two have been grabbing, using and dropping all of Taskmasters weapons very liberally. Matt had fought with the shield, the sword, throwing knives, a bow and arrow, even a rubber band. Literally, everything Taskmaster had on his person. Plus, his improvised chain whips came in handy since the older fighter had no idea how to counter them since he never came across someone who used weapons like that before.

But Matt knew that his body would give up on him eventually. He counted the number of muscle fibres straining and tearing themselves every time he threw a punch or blocks an attack. No amount of willpower can help someone power through an immovable body. Any pain he felt from Psimon's mind probing was being drowned out by the punishment he was dishing out to his own body.

Daredevil grabs Taskmasters shoulders and tries to go for a headbutt. But Taskmaster feels nothing but a weak tap as Matt rests his head against the white capped shoulders of his adversary. The merc could feel Matt's breath against his body and saw that his muscles were relaxing. He pushed Matt down on to the sand but he made no attempt to get back up.

He couldn't. His legs lost any sensation after the fall. The simple act of breathing was too tiring for Matt, having spent the best part of a day being tortured and having to fight for his life. Quite frankly, he felt grateful just for being able to feel the cold, night desert air against his bare chest.

'There are _worse_ ways to die,' he thought, hearing the sound of metal cut through the air. The familiar sillouete of a sword hovered over his body. Matt closes his eyes behind his cowl and starts to laugh. He laughs so hard and so long that the sound makes Taskmaster and the soldiers somewhat unsettled.

Taskmaster puts the tip of the sword against Matt's throat. "Guess the heat's finally caught up with you," he said with a small grin of satisfaction. This was going to make his name, 'The man who killed Daredevil.' The villain imagined what he would get from his new found notoriety; book deals, interviews, a movie, a working shower. Hell, maybe he could earn a little respect in the villain community.

Matt's laughter stops when he hears a familiar heartbeat come a few feet closer. He holds his breath, despite his lungs protesting as small spheres are thrown inside the centre of the circle formed by the soldiers. They burst, releasing a grey cloud of gas that started to suffocate the soldiers.

One of the men saw shades of red, black and yellow appear inside the smoke and heard his friends falling beside him. He sees that they were restrained by some kind of cable.

Suddenly, a pair of small, gloved hand grabbed his shoulders and they spin him around as the one assaulting him stretched his legs out, kicking two more soldiers behind him. The figure jumps of off the spinning soldier and kicks him in the knee, knocking him to the ground.

The smoke dissipates and Taskmaster sees a young Robin standing above many fallen Bialyan men. A few get up, since Dick couldn't put enough force into his attacks to knock them out and they point their weapons at him.

Robin pulls out three disks from his belt but a yellow blur runs past the soldiers in front of him and they suddenly stood disarmed. "I'll hold that. That too. And that as well, thanks," Wally said as he snatched every gun he saw on the field.

Kid Flash and Robin fight at each other's side, knocking out as many soldiers as they could but they were both dehydrated and out numbered. One particularly brave man charged at Robin with a knife, almost stabbing him in the neck but it stopped just an inch shy from an artery.

The man flew back into another soldier and they laid on the ground, rolling in pain. Robin turns around and was surprised to see a female Martian hovering above him. He gives her a small, two finger salute which she returns, playfully.

Taskmaster saw this as a golden opportunity. "Kill the Devil and run for the hills. What could possibly go wrong?" he asked himself, picking his shield up from the ground. He charges towards Matt, who was still in no shape to move and is giddy, seeing his chance for a better future lying motionless on the sand.

But he heard a small his in the air and he turned around. An arrow was headed towards him, whose head opened up and launched a net towards the villain, making him fall onto the cold, harsh sand, his nose breaking as his shield impacts his face.

The three amnesiac teenagers look and see Artemis with her bow drawn and aimed at the incapacitated hero. She smiles and walks down to the rest of the group.

Kid Flash and Robin hi-five and happily greet each other, glad to see someone they actually recognised. The boy wonder tied up the soldiers with Artemis' help and M'gann helps Matt up. "Any chance you guys have any aspirin? My head is killing me," he said with a hoarse throat and a slither of a smile.

The team was almost back.

* * *

M'gann spent the next few minutes removing Psimon's telepathic trauma from Matt's psyche. She couldn't understand why the images in his brain felt so- for lack of a better term- loud. But she was grateful since Daredevil had inadvertently dismantled most of the effects himself over the past few hours.

He narrated his story to the rest of the gang while M'gann was busy in the psychic realm and he was amused by Wally's reactions. "You fought a supervillain with a rubber band?" he asked incredulously. Matt shrugged which sent a sense of relief down his spine as opposed to a quaking pain. Which convinced him that whatever M'gann was doing in his head was working.

As soon as the martian was done with him Matt sprang up into the air. He felt like new life was being breathed into his lungs with every unlaboured inhalation. He stretched his arms and back and yelled into the air with unadulterated joy. His hearing and other senses felt like they were dialled to eleven since he did not have to restrain them anymore.

"Might wanna turn out down a notch D," Robin said, tapping his shoulder. "Yeah, do you want the rest of their friends to find us?" Artemis added, pointing to the hogtied soldiers.

Matt dialled back his enthusiasm. Since he realised that the team still had six months of their memory missing he decided to give them the broad strokes of what they had done. Project CADMUS, Mr. Twister, Santa Prisca, Amazo, Wally's failed attempts to flirt with Black Canary.

The highlights, as Matt called them.

"So we're a team?" Robin asked. Matt nodded in response, folding his arms. The younger teenager hands Matt a piece of fabric. After feeling it's texture and absorbing it's scent he recognises the owner. "Superboy," he said quietly. "Did you see him?" Miss Martian asks.

Artemis turns to Wally, "I think we did," she said, putting her hands on her hips. Wally strokes his chin, "Feral boy? Some teammate. He attacked us," he states bluntly. "He didn't know who we are. I don't know who we are," Artemis responds. Matt sits down, he could swear he was missing something, or someone. Perhaps it was the abuse he received that spaced him out. Or maybe Psimon removed a few his memories after all.

"I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him," Robin said. Wally grins, "How do you know that we don't work for my mentor?" he asks as he points to the symbol on his chest, touching it. Suddenly his grey and black suit turns back into the traditional yellow and red. "Oh yeah. Stealth mode," Matt stated, feeling the change in temperature being emitted from the suit.

"Woah," was all the speedster could say as he kept tapping the symbol on his chest, seeing it fade from yellow to black. From black back to yellow again multiple times. Artemis and Robin touch their respective symbols on their costumes and nothing changes.

Annoyed by the childish glee Wally was getting from his new discovery, Artemis orders in a childish tone, "Quit touching yourself," she says, making the speedster stop tapping his symbol after it goes back to stealth mode.

"M'gann. Any chance you martians know a Vulcan mind-meld thing we can do to get our memories back?" Matt asked, not caring if sounded like a stupid question. While she did not understand the Star Trek reference she did understand what he wanted.

'To help Superboy,' she thought. M'gann touched her head and her eyes glowed a bright green. The four were transported into a mental plane. Their surroundings looked like a purple honeycomb with mirrors inside them. But these mirrors seemed to just be events that took place at some point in their lives. Images from this morning, minutes prior and even months prior appeared in these mirror like reflections.

Matt knew wherever they were must have looked impressive since Wally, Dick and Artemis were moving their heads around more than usual.

Miss Martian appears in front of them, her blue hood over her head. "I've let you inside my mind so that I can share what Daredevil and I have remembered so far. But we need your help. Our collective broken memories can form a whole, if you open your minds to mine," she said calmly.

Artemis was taken aback by this information, "You want to go through our private thoughts?" she asks. M'gann raises her arms defensively, "I don't wish to intrude but..." Robin interupts her, "You need to hack out minds to find out what happened to us. Go," he said immediately, not caring if his teammates knew a secret or two about him.

"My mind is all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you," Wally said. Robin chuckles, "Or underwhelm you. Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" he asks. Matt smacks himself in the head, "Now's not the time guys. Do it, just make sure my senses don't overload everyone's heads," he said recalling the sensory overload the team, minus Artemis - felt the first time M'gann used her telepathy with them.

Artemis still looked unconvinced and Matt understood her reasoning. She had secrets of her own and he of all people understood that but there was more at stake than their personal lives. Wally sees her being reserved and walked beside her and gently put his hand in hers.

Feeling surprisingly comforted by the gesture she gives a reluctant sigh. "Last six months only and only what you need," she told M'gann. The martian nodded and she peered further into their minds.

Memories flash before them. Meeting Superboy, fighting Twister, Bane, Matt being elected leader. Most everything came back to them but they were still missing something. They hear a voice, deep and commanding. They see, or perceive in Matt's case, Batman instructing them hours earlier about an energy surge in the Bialyan desert. "Spectral analysis reveals that the source of the energy might be non-terrestrial in origin. Find out what landed in that sight. What happened there," the detective instructed the team.

He brought up holographic images for the team to see, "Bialya is a rogue state ruled by 'Queen Bee' who isn't a member of the Leagues UN charter. All radio communications are subject to interference. So maintain radio silence at all times," Batman said.

Their memories flash forward, Daredevil remembers scanning the area with his senses and giving the all clear to the team. Superboy was lifting a cube shaped object on his back and the rest of the team followed him off of the bioship. Robin, Matt and Artemis did some recon work on a nearby Bialyan temporary base of operations. Matt could hear the scientists running tests on some sort of sphere and it almost sounded like the poor thing was screaming.

Aqualad oversaw the rest of the team back where they had set up and tells Superboy to drop what he was carrying over a flat bed of sand. The clone pushes a few buttons and the large device folds open and forms the rectangular structure Robin saw in the desert.

After the three had finished with their recon work Robin got to work with the device which was designed to detect and analyse exotic energy signatures. Wally was overseeing the results the machine was churning out. "Jack pot. This place is brimming with zeta beam radiation," he said. Robin pinpointed the source and narrowed it down to the tent he, Artemis and Daredevil just saw.

M'gann offers to go invisible and check it out and Matt agrees, telling her to go. There was only so much he could understand with his remaining senses. "Be careful," Superboy said. "And maintain telepathic contact," Aqualad added.

The five come back to the real world and realise what they had been forgetting, "Aqualad!" they all shouted out. Matt was distraught, he never thought he could forget a teammate, a friend of all people. "What happened next? It's still a bit fuzzy," he said.

M'gann looked troubled, "I don't know. That's the last thing I- we remember," she said. Wally and Artemis see that they were still holding hand and they quickly let go, both of them blushing. "We landed over twenty four hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long. Well, that's not good for a guy with gills," Wally said, recovering from the awkward physical contact.

Matt drowned out the sound of his teammates and listened for a particular pattern. An Atlantean heartbeat and after a few moments rhythmic beat entered his ears. "He's close. But he's not in good shape. Let's go," he said, walking towards the location of their fallen teammate.

* * *

The scientists in the tent continued to study the sphere. Which involved electrocution apparently. But their attention was divided, since half the staff were tasked with analysing the Kryptonian on the other side of the tent. They were electrocuting him as well, analysing his skin density and pain tolerance. This was not standard scientific procedure but when your boss was a pale skinned telepath with a propensity for violence you do as your told.

They momentarily stopped torturing the clone and as they did, the sphere stopped groaning. "Raise to shock level four," one of the older scientists says. Superboy screams louder and the sphere responds in kind, as if it could feel his suffering.

Psimon sees this and a wicked smile appears on his face. "Fascinating," he says.

* * *

Matt cradled Kaldur in his arms. The Atlantean was delirious, unable to move and was muttering something in his native tongue but no one could understand a word of it. But Matt recognised a name he kept repeating. Tula, Aqualad's old flame.

Daredevil's mind wanders towards a memory of Elektra, he wonders what it would be like to have forgotten her. Whether he would even notice if he did. But he shook his head, now was not the time for hypotheticals.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition," M'gann said, touching Kaldur on the head. "He needs immediate rehydration. Call the bioship," Robin said. She shook her head, "It's out of range. You can get there fast," M'gann said turning to Wally.

"He's too heavy and I'm too low on fuel. Right now I couldn't even carry her," the speedster says, pointing at Artemis. The archer jabs him in the shoulder asking M'gann, "Can't you just levitate him there?" Miss Martian looked at Aqualad and frowned, "I would but I have to find Superboy. Six months ago he didn't even exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse. I'm the only one who can help him," she said.

Matt gently lays Kaldur back onto the ground and Robin uses his cape as a pillow. "I was tortured and beaten to a bloody pulp for almost twenty two hours and I don't have super strength. Superboy's the toughest guy I know, he can take whatever he's going through but Kaldur needs your help right now," he says sternly.

M'gann's head starts to hurt and she feels Superboy, writhing in agony thanks to her telepathy. "No! Superboy's in pain," she says in an alarmed tone of voice. She was about to levitate away but Matt grabbed her. "AND KALDUR'S DYING! I AM NOT RISKING HIS LIFE JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T TOLERATE YOUR CRUSH BEING HURT," Matt shouted out in M'gann's face, making her freeze in fear. She had never seen Daredevil so angry before.

Matt took some deep breaths and calms himself. "Ok. That wasn't fair. M'gann, I've been there. I get how it feels to feel useless when someone you care about gets hurt. But as cruel as it may seem, Superboy can take more punishment than the rest of us combined. Kaldur won't last another hour. When we stabilize him we'll all go and help Superboy, together, as a team. We stand a better chance than you going solo," he said in an understanding but firm manner.

Miss Martian looks down and nods. Matt could taste the tears streaming down her eyes and it broke his heart. She was one of the nicest people he knew and he reduced her to this. But he met Psimon, and he has no intention for M'gann to confront that monster alone.

"Alright. There's a squad of six about half a click away from the bioship. Robin, Artemis, you two go ahead without us and take out the soldiers before we arrive. M'gann, use your telepathy to move Kaldur. Wally and I will watch your six. You all understand your duties?" Matt asks. The team give a determined nod. "Let's get moving," he said.

Robin and Artemis run ahead, cautiously looking out for the men they needed to handle. Wally and Matt made a gurney from old tent parts to make it easier for M'gann to lift Kaldur so that she did not need to worry about him flopping around. Matt knew that she was still upset but the time for consoling would come later. They had jobs to do.

* * *

By the time the party transporting Kaldur reached the ship, Artemis and Dick had already dealt with the small squad of soldiers near the ship. They connected Kaldur's arm to a specialised IV and made sure that he was stable. Matt felt his hand starting to twitch but he grabbed it with his remaining one. He didn't want to show any weakness.

M'gann was pacing back and forth in the ship. She could still feel Superboy's screams despite being so far away. After double checking that Kaldur was going to be fine Matt walked towards M'gann. "I need you to fly us near the tent but just out of Psimon's telepathic range. Can you do that?" he whispers.

She wipes away her tears and nods. Matt smiles and pats her shoulder. "Alright. Here's the thing. You're the only one here who has a chance against that creep. You know that right?" he asks her. She nods again but looks very unsure of herself. "I don't think I can beat him. On my own, I mean," she says.

"But you're not alone," Wally said, chewing on his third Speedster energy bar. "Yeah, we've got your back," Robin says in a reassuring manner. Artemis restocks on arrows and gives M'gann a thumbs up. M'gann puts her hands over her mouth, no one on Mars ever treated her with such comradery. But her earth friends would risk their lives for her without a second thought.

She hovers herself into the pilot seat and sets a course for the tent. She would rescue Superboy no matter what.

When they were a few hundred yards away from the tent Matt started informing the team of the strategy he was forming on his head but he felt his nose starting to bleed and his head felt faint. He was about to fall down but Wally ran behind him and stopped him.

"You're in no condition to fight," he told Matt who scoffed at the idea. "I'm fine," he said weakly, unable to believe his own lie. "You seriously need to stay here. Pretty sure you can still bark orders from the ship," Artemis said, helping Wally settle Daredevil down.

Matt rested his head against the hull of the ship, the organic matter felt like it was comforting him somehow. "Fine. Wally, take out the guys from the outer perimeter. Artemis, Robin, you sweep after and then follow M'gann into the tent. Miss M, try and restore Supe's mind before Psimon sees you. If you can't and he engages you, the three of you need to provide support. Go, before we die of old age," Matt said, with his last sentence being a bit facetious.

The four get off of the ship and slowly make there way towards the tent. They hear someone shouting out inside and assume it's Superboy. M'gann was about to fly in but Robin stopped her. "Stick to the plan," he said.

Wally puts on his goggles, "Don't worry beautiful. I'll be back in a Flash," he said unironically and dashed away. Robin rolls his eyes and Artemis grinds her teeth after hearing that pun. Even M'gann recognised how absurd that phrase was.

The men guarding the perimeter were on high alert. Reports of American insurgents were circulating throughout the ranks and that put them on edge. "Why did I get the night shift?" one soldier complained in Bialyan. His comrade, stood a few feet to his left told him to be quiet. "But I-" the first soldier said before his sentence was cut short. The other guard looked completely lost, he had no idea how his friend disappeared.

He sees a black blur in the corner of his eye but before he could raise his rifle he found himself almost a mile away from camp and tied up next to three more of his fellow soldiers. Kid Flash dusted his gloves off and gave a cocky grin, "Perimeter guys down. We're clear to move in," he said. But unbeknownst to him a sniper, buried beneath the sand saw the entire scene and now had the Speedster in his sights.

He held his breath to keep the gun steady and hovers his finger in front of the trigger, waiting patiently for the right time to shoot. The symbol on the teenagers chest made for the perfect target and the sniper figured now would be the optimal time to fire. He pulls the trigger and he hears the gun click but instead of firing a bullet the weapon misfires, sending small embers on his skin.

The sniper flinches and gets up. He picks up his rifle and sees an arrow lodged in the barrel. Suddenly, a black covered knee strikes him in the chin and he's knocked out. "You missed a spot," Robin said, dragging the sniper he had just taken out away from the camp.

"Good job Rob," Matt said, happy that he heard the shooter's heartbeat in time. The four moved in and Matt monitored their progress on the bioship. Kaldur was shifting in his sleep, which meant that at the very least his condition was improving.

They surrounded the tent at all sides, ready to move in. M'gann cloaked herself and moved in first, just like they planned. She saw Superboy being electrocuted and Psimon just staring at him with an inquisitive smirk.

She stretched her near invisible hand out to the clone but a voice startles her. "Well, someone is certainly a glutton for punishment. Psimon says...forget." M'gann cut-off the psychic link so that the others wouldn't be affected by the older telepath invading her mind. The martian closes her eyes and she finds herself in a red, rocky and barren plane, with large pieces of machinery floating mid-air.

'That's it. Like before,' Psimon says mentally. M'gann's mind flashes back to when she first entered the tent twenty four hours ago. She remembered Daredevil telling her to exercise caution as she spots the sphere being electrocuted by a group of scientists. Miss Martian realises that the sphere was some sort of life form and she attempts to communicate with it telepathically. 'Can you hear me?' she asks in her mind.

'I can. An open mind can be a dangerous thing,' she heard someone, which she now recognised as Psimon's, say. She remembers looking around, trying to find the source of the then mysterious voice. 'Someone's hacked our link,' she informs the team, panicking.

Psimon rubs his temples and concentrates, 'Psimon can't see you. Psimon can't catch you. But Psimon can make you all forget,' he said mentally.

In the distance, the team grab their heads in agony as they felt their minds being ripped apart. Matt's mental defences kick in but he's knocked out instantly with most of his memories still intact. But the rest of the team walk away in random directions. Dreary and in a dream like a state, not sure of where they were, or what they were doing.

M'gann comes back to the present and sees that the mental landscape she was trapped in was slowly fading, the power of Psimon's mind overwhelming her own. But she knew what was coming this time. "No. I won't let it happen again," she said, using her own telepathy to restore the psychic realm. Psimon formed a mental image of himself and allowed it to manifest in front of the Martian.

'Not really your call little girl,' Psimon said slowly. A black laser manifested itself from his forehead and hit her. In the psychic plane, anything was game.

* * *

Matt grew anxious. M'gann was not moving and neither was Psimon. The rest of the team couldn't enter the tent and release Superboy unless she could restore his mind. The scientists and soldiers in the tent could not see M'gann since she was still cloaked but looked at the statue like Psimon with some confusion.

But they soon saw had other things to worry about since the combined telekinetic ability of the two started to make every object under the tent float. Superboy notices a shimmer in the air and switches to his infrared vision.

He spots M'gann facing towards Psimon and his heartbeat starts to increase, his animalistic rage starting to show again. The sphere starts spinning within it's restraints. Matt wanted to warn the team of the situation but they weren't responding to his thoughts.

"Great. Psychic link's kaput," he tells himself. The metal that entrapped the sphere starts to crack and after a few seconds, it frees itself. It rolls towards Superboy and crashes into the computers that controlled the clones own restraints.

They open up and he leaps down. He lands and jumps at Psimon but a black telepathic barrier appeared and pushed him back, despite all his strength. As he gets his bearings back his hand accidentally brushes against M'gann and his own body becomes still, his feral mind entering the mental battle between the two telepaths.

M'gann was surprised to see Superboy appear next to her. "You're here!" she says excitedly. She places her hand on the clones head, flooding his empty mind with all that he's experienced these past months.

This cycles through his brain in a blur but one memory stands out for him. He remembers M'gann, floating a cookbook in front of her as she read through a recipe for some form of cake. "Ok, we need a stick of butter, some milk, a few eggs," she says, reading off of the list. She telepathically removes them from the fridge and the fly across the kitchen a little too quickly. She turns back after hearing the eggs crack and see Superboy, covered in a fatty mixture of butter, milk and eggs.

She drops the book in shock and hovers towards him. "I am so sorry. I should have been more careful," she says whilst she gently whipped his face with a dish cloth. "Too much at once. Way too much at once. Hello Megan," she says to herself, not looking Superboy in the eye.

They come out of the memory and Superboy looks at M'gann with a new found sense of respect. "Kick his butt," he told her with a rare smile. Miss Martian gives him a reassuring nod and allows his mind to go back to the physical world.

Superboy places his head in his hands, it wasn't everyday you see your entire short lived life flash before your eyes. He sees shadows outside the tents and recognises his friends standing outside thanks to his infrared vision.

"Aren't you gonna come in?" he asks. Robin was the first one to enter, "SB! Nice to see you out of your Frankenstein phase," he said jovially, giving the kryptonian a fist bump. Wally lightly punches him on the shoulder and winces, "That… was a mistake," he said clenching his fist. Artemis elbows him in the ribs, scolding him for being so reckless.

Superboy felt at home, seeing his friends back and bickering. "Where's Kaldur and Daredevil?" he asks. Before anyone could answer him Robin receives a message on his wrist mounted computer. He opens it and here's the muffled voice of Matt, who was clearly struggling to utilise whatever he was using to send this message.

"Two dozen soldiers coming your way. ETA one minute," the message said. "We'll fill you in later," Robin said, putting the holographic display away. The team form a circle around the tent. The men would not risk firing from the outside and hitting Psimon so they would have no choice but to enter.

And considering who they had to face to get their boss back, they would never stand a chance. A man enters the tent and Robin immediately disarms him with a throwing disk. Superboy grabs the soldier and throws him outside, knocking the others behind him down like bowling pins.

Artemis used a net arrow to trap another one who came in and Wally ran outside, picking off the ones in the distance. One pointed a gun at Robin but before Superboy could cover him the Sphere charged into the soldier and took him out of the fight.

The clone stares at the odd metal object, "Um… Thanks?" he said. More men enter and the team got to work. Doing their best to protect M'gann from any stray bullets.

* * *

The battle in the mental plane was becoming more intense. The two had fired balls of energy, laser blasts, erected force fields all in the effort to have their mind overcome the other. M'gann was holding her own, at one point even over powering Psimon by duplicating herself and firing mind lasers at him.

But despite all of this she as still a relative novice, whilst he was a master of the mind. In the real world, their escalating mental conflict was being reflected by their increased telepathic output.

The wind picked up inside of the tent and the telepathy was now forming a small, green localised twister. Wally was too far away to be affected but Robin and Artemis were forced to the ground, unable to stand when faced with that kind of power.

But Superboy could. He covered his eyes and the Sphere moved in front of him, adding further protection. If he could touch M'gann again and go into that 'weird mind place,' as he called it, maybe he could help her.

He walks into the eye of the storm and holds her hand. His body now still but his mind travelling at unthinkable speeds to reach M'gann.

* * *

Matt was struggling to stay upright as the Bioship was acting like it was in the middle of heavy turbulence. He could hear a tornado-like funnel forming at the tent and perceived the outlines of Superboy and M'gann in the centre, facing Psimon. Standing completely still.

"Wait. Can you fly above the eye of that storm?" he asks the bioship. It was unresponsive. He clenches his fists in frustration and felt tempted to punch it's walls. "I know you can hear me. And I know I've always been weirded out by you. But M'gann's in there. Our friends are in their fighting for their lives. We need to go and help them. Please," he said, pleading to the sentient vehicle.

Matt sighed and rested his head against her. "Come on. Help me out here, just this once." The ship started to vibrate and the pilot's chair started to glow. Matt felt the temperature increase there and he sat in the seat. He places his hands on the bright control spheres and taps at them.

"Alright, just one question. How do I fly you?"

* * *

After a few failed attempts and narrowly missed crashes he managed to make the ship land in the centre of the telepathic tornado. An organic line connected him to the ship as he disembarked, preventing him from flying off due to the force of the storm.

Matt touches Miss Martian's free hand and a familiar but uncomfortable buzzing sensation fills his head. He opens his eyes and is greeted with colour. Something he hasn't known in years.

"What the hell?" he asks himself. He looks down and sees that he was still shirtless. Matt rubs his eyes but his surroundings did not change. Red, rocky desert with random bits of tech floating around. "I think that's red. I can barely remember," he says to himself.

He wanted to appreciate this opportunity for a bit longer but he hears two people screaming in the distance. Matt turns around and sees who he assumes were M'gann and Superboy launching a large green energy blast against a guy with a see-through brain who was firing a larger beam that was black and clashing with theirs.

Psimon's beam was inching closer and closer towards the two and even their combined might was not enough to stop his onslaught. "Say goodbye children," Psimon says, glaring at the two aliens. Wanting to savor the image of their mental demise.

Matt focused his mind and summoned a pair of red sai. A hand clasps his own and the image of a beautiful black haired, emerald eyed girl enters his field of vision. "Elektra," he said before the image faded. Matt clutches the sai tightly and takes aim at Psimon.

The black beam was only seconds away from decimating the two and Psimon was extremely delighted by that knowledge, this distraction had lasted long enough. His attention wavered as he felt something pierce his back.

He turned around and sees Matt behind him. "Daredevil?" he asks alarmingly. "M'gann. Do it now!" Matt shouted.

Her and Superboy nodded at each other and put every last bit of strength they had into their beam. Psimon looked in horror as his own beam started to shrink whilst the children's grew larger and larger. Till he was hit in the chest.

Psimon screams in agony as the psychic world around the four vanishes and shatters like a pane of glass. Their collective awareness was now back in the real world. Matt's world once again grew dark.

Normally that might have driven him mad. But not today. He got to see what the girl he loves looked like. That was worth going blind for a second time.

Psimon sees the teenagers and scowls. "Psimon says..." he starts but the sphere pushes him into the tornado. The pale man spins around in the fading storm and falls into the sand. Nauseous and cross-eyed but alive.

M'gann floats slowly to the ground and Superboy catches her. They look at each other and smile. They lean in for a kiss but stop after hearing some coughing.

"There's a time and a place guys," Matt said almost paternally. The sphere rolls up towards them and starts to beep. Superboy looks at it like a child would a puppy. "Can we keep him?" he asks the two.

* * *

The entire team were now resting in the bioship. They all had sand in places were they didn't even know sand could enter and were thirsty beyond belief but they were together as a team again. Wally was analysing the sphere. As souvenirs went, this one probably trumps them all.

Matt notices M'gann and remembered the taste of her tears. He needed to make things right.

"M'gann. I um… well. I'm sorry about what I said in the desert when we found Kaldur. I-" he said but she raised her hands. "No. I understand. You had to make sure he was safe and alive. I've been called worse things," she said softly. Matt looks at her and tilts his head. He stretches his hands out, inviting in a hug. M'gann smiles and embraces him.

She was not one to hold a grudge for any reason.

"Guys," Artemis says pointing at Kaldur. The Atlantean woke up and started shouting in Atlantean. M'gann slaps her forehead. "Hello, Megan. I knew I was forgetting something," she said as she slowly hovered towards Aqualad so that she could restore his memories.

Matt smiles and rubs his aching arms. He remembers Elektra's face and a tear appears in his eye. Moments like that made any pain he felt worth the sacrifice.

* * *

 **And that was a long chapter.**

 **Sorry, it took nearly a month to update. Exams, projects and me forgetting to pay for my Netflix account (that's how I watch the show) kept me busy.**

 **I skipped a couple episodes since Matt's inclusion would either have no impact or his abilities would have cut the episode short by several minutes.**

 **Hope you liked the changes I made here. And I hope I PM'd everyone who responded.**

 **Next time, Matt and Elektra accidentally get involved with saving a peace negotiation with a certain Red haired archer.**

 **Now for the comments I couldn't PM:**

 **Ayda: Love the new chapter!**

 **Me: Thanks.**

 **Alright, see you all later. I need to sleep now.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Targets:**

 **Taipei, September 7th, 2010:**

"Hurry. We are almost there!" the man whispered in a controlled tone, his voice muffled by his black mask. His partner scurried along behind him, silent as the night itself. The two remove a few lengths of rope from their satchels and toss them across the rooftops. The hooks at the end latch onto the concrete and they straighten the ropes out, testing the tension.

After deeming it to be steady the men walk across to the other rooftop like a pair of circus acrobats. They carefully step off of the ropes and walk towards the skylight. They peer down to take a look at what's happening within the building. Dozens of men, armed to the teeth with guns, baring mean faces like one would see off of Saturday morning cartoons surrounding a group of people stuffing gold bars into stuffed animals and stitching them back up afterward.

The two men, clad in black open up a panel in the skylight and climb down the wall, grabbing onto any imperfection in its surface that their fingers and toes could feel. They walk behind someone who was overlooking the view on the floor. A grey-haired individual in a brown, tailored suit.

The man had far too many creases on his forehead than one his age ever deserved but that was common for people in his line of work. But what was not common was the organization that he was forced to do business with.

"Mario Bertinelli," he heard inches behind his neck, sending shivers down his spine. He takes a deep breath and composes himself, brushing his hands on his brown blazer. "I'm guessin' that you must be the muscle the guys in New York hired," Mario said with a false sense of confidence. The two ninjas did not move. No nods, no shaking of hands, no talking. Mario could feel the sweat drip down his brow, he used this technique himself when he was an enforcer. Staring at a potential business partner and refusing to say a word.

A way of showing who was truly in charge of the situation. The old gangster shakes his head and decides to be the one to break the silence. "I hope you have more guys. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know your um… organization specializes in this sort of thing but it's just that the masks have been dealing massive blows to our capital. We've lost four major money laundering fronts in the past couple days. Hundreds of millions lost. Hell, it's not just the physical stuff, they've been at our digital stocks as well. If we lose this place. The Bertinelli's might not have much of a future," he said. He knew he shouldn't be making himself look so vulnerable in front of these guys but they needed to know the details.

'Who am I kidding? They probably knew that stuff anyway,' Mario thinks. The taller of the two ninja steps forward. "Rest assured Mr. Bertinelli. The Shadows will keep this operation safe."

As soon as he said that the lights in the building stop working. The armed guards stop for a moment and reach for their flashlights. The workers start muttering amongst themselves. Talk of police and prison started building among the ranks.

Mario's heart started to beat faster. "Always with the theatrics. Who's it this time? Batman? Green Arrow?" he asked. The gangster turned around to talk to the ninjas but they seemed to have vanished in thin air. The old man does not dally. He goes towards his desk and opens a drawer. He removes a small panel and picks up a small case. He opens it and brandishes the item he was looking for.

A double barrel shotgun. Even if those masked creeps got passed his men and whatever the ninja had in store, a chest filled with buckshot would stop anyone.

He sat on the chair behind his desk. His heart was pounding against his chest so hard that he felt as if his ribs might shatter. Sounds of gunfire made him jump. The workers who stuffed the gold bars started to scream and run manically. The guards stopped firing so as to not hit any of them but that was a mistake.

One of the guards dropped his gun after a worker ran into him. He bent over to pick it up but when he stood up he saw that everyone one of his colleagues were lying on the ground either unconscious or holding onto gaping wounds in their legs that were oozing with blood.

He feels someone tapping him on the shoulder and turns around. But his weapon flies out of his hands and he feels something pierce his knee. The guard looks up and sees a black haired girl with a red cloth over her face holding the weapon.

She twists and the man falls to the floor. Crippled but alive. "That sounded painful," a voice said over the communicator in her ear. She places a finger on it and responds, "Yes, I imagine it was," Elektra says.

"We'll chat later. El, plug into the computer banks over there. Lux, inform the police and transfer the Bertinelli's cash through the usual channels," Matt said. Elektra gives him an irritated look which she knew he couldn't see it but the message still came across. She does not like grunt work.

"I think I'll have them make a generous donation to the Wayne Foundation. Help the orphans and all that," Lakshmi said with excitement over the communicator, typing away at her laptop as Elektra plugged in the homemade device, giving the young Indian girl remote access to the system in the building.

Elektra gestures to the room above and Matt nods. They knew that Mario was still unaccounted for and Matt could have heard the gun trembling in his hand from a mile away. He casually walks up the stairs and throws his Billy to disarm the old man. Mario winces in pain but Matt was not done with him yet.

The hero grabs the sides of the desk and slowly inches it forward, pinning Mario against the wall behind him. Mario was trying his hardest to retaliate and push back but he was not a young man anymore. The more he pushed back, the more force Daredevil applied, straining his frail body. Matt grabs a fist full of grey hair, making Mario close his eyes and shout in pain.

"You're lucky that the peace treaty's keeping the cops busy. Your little family would have probably used what little cash they had left to find someone to kill you if something as mundane as a police raid took down the remains of your money laundering operation instead of us," Matt said with a grim tone, a slither of a smile on his face. "Also two shadows? Really? That's all the help you could afford?" he asks quietly, flicking Mario on the head for his own amusement.

Whenever he wasn't on a mission with the team, he and Lux had spent their time shutting down the Bertinelli crime family the only way that would make an impact. By hitting their wallets. Matt used his connections in the Russian Bratva to find out where the laundering facilities were and after a quick Zeta beam trip, a few brawls and Lakshmi screaming at him remotely for struggling to plug a pen drive in a computer for the hundredth time they cost the Bertinelli's millions. The cops would put the gold bars into evidence and the cash they stored digitally was usually donated to some well-known charity by Lakshmi.

As a result, many mid and low-level enforcers could not afford bail. Most of their lawyers jumped ship and any power they had was quickly seized by other crime organizations or dismantled by the local authorities. The Yakuza was overexerting themselves in New York, trying to encroach on this fresh new Territory and the Bratva did not partake in any physical crimes anyways, so Matt had no way to eliminate them until he became a lawyer and could take them down in court. In theory anyway. So he decided to use them for information.

Elektra was in Taipei since her father was one of the men working with Lex Luthor, trying to broker a peace between North and South Rehlasia. Matt begged her to come to join him. She accepted immediately since beating up criminals was far more entertaining than watching old, fat diplomats talk. Plus, she shares Lakshmi's frustrations whenever she was forced to witness Matt struggle with technology. Her being able to see would make working with the computer's much smoother.

"How long will this take?" Elektra asks Lux over the comms. She can hear the hacker scribbling on what sounded like paper, "What? Oh, sorry. I'm doing my math homework. Two minutes till all the cash is transferred. Don't worry, after this is done you and Matt can have the whole night to yourselves," she said somewhat oblivious to how that last statement could be misinterpreted. Elektra smiles, "You read my mind. Nice to finally talk to the intelligent half of Daredevil," she said facetiously, knowing that Matt would be able to hear that. Lux laughs, "I'm just technical support. You're the one helping him do the heavy lifting."

Daredevil struggled to keep his intimidating facade in front of Mario as the two girls continued to talk. He was happy that they were getting along but his creepy slither was slowly morphing into a smile of contentment, which did mesh with is modus operandi. But that would not be of concern for much longer as he hears something coming behind him.

Matt does not even bother to dodge, instead, he allows the ninja to strike him in the back with a sword. His armor deflects the attack and Matt turns around to grab him by the collar and he pulls the ninja in, using his cowl to deliver a headbutt, knocking him out. "Hey, El. We've got..."

"Company? I hardly noticed," she said, standing over the second ninja, his sword broken in two and his hands covering a now bloody nose. Elektra sees him squirm in pain and her training kicks in. She removes her sai and places the blade against his throat, the sight of blood leaving his skin elevated her senses. As if the world was now in slow-motion. "Elektra," Matt said sternly from the room above.

He only used her full name when he was trying to reprimand her. The two have gone out on patrol a handful of times in the past which was usually enjoyable for both of them. Matt liked to have the company of someone with similar skills fighting alongside him and Elektra could finally let loose on people who more or less deserved punishment.

But she had been conditioned to kill her opponents for over half her life and a few stern speeches would not unravel that. Now, Matt found it harder and more frustrating to try and stop Elektra from killing the criminals they fought than the actual fights that lead up to those moments.

Elektra rolled her eyes and kicks the ninja in the jaw, knocking him out. "No killing. No killing. I remember," she said. Matt knocks out Mario and makes his way down towards his girlfriend. She crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently. "It's amusing," she said. "What is?" Matt asks.

"How you think taking the life of a member of the league of shadows is off limits and yet you torturing a frail old man for no reason is absolutely fine," she said, waving her arms in the air.

Matt puts his hands on his hips, "It's not." Elektra gives him a confused look. "Come again?" He places his hand in hers. "I'll admit, I go a bit too far with the bad guys. You're not the first one to call me out on that. But the fact that you are is amazing," he said, admiration clear in his voice. Her look of confusion does not fade. "When Kato killed that Hand member a few weeks back you didn't even flinch. Now you're questioning me about excessive violence against a gangster. You might still want to kill but you're showing some level of restraint at least. Maybe even some empathy and that's honestly amazing," he said with a wide smile.

Elektra raised her eyebrows and a shy smile appears behind the cloth covering her mouth. "You know what? I never thought of it like that. Then again, you have always had a misplaced sense of optimism," she says coyly. Matt shrugs his shoulders, "It's more of a Catholic thing. Finding hope in lost causes," he says, his voice muskier than before. She lightly slaps his shoulder, "Since it's your birthday tomorrow, I was planning on giving you your _gift_ a bit early but I think that comment might have made me reconsider that," she said evocatively, whispering lightly in his ear which made his eyes widen as his mind cycles through what that could mean.

Matt turns his head as he hears something fly through the air with the speed of a train. He quickly extends his arms and catches the projectile which was now a centimeter from Elektra's throat. They back away from each other and hide behind some railings. Matt examines the shape and material of what he was holding. He felt layers of plastic, stuck together in a rectangular shape.

A playing card.

"We should stop flirting on the field," Matt tells Elektra. "Agreed," she says, looking around for whoever threw it.

Matt hears rubber soles flattening over some concrete above on the roof. "I've got to say, lad, it's nice to see that you have your shite together. You're taller, have a new red suit and you've even bagged yourself a nice looking bird. Shame those Shadow pricks hired me to protect this place," a jolly Irish voice said from the skyline above.

Matt's blood started to boil when he recognized that voice. Memories of a time long past enter his mind and his face contorts into one of unspeakable range. "Bullseye," he spits out. The assassin in blue claps his hands together, trying to get more attention. "I can't really hear you lot from down there and I've watched, while you and your girl were dicking around with those men. How about you come up here and we'll have a nice little chat Devil?" he whispered just loud enough for Matt to hear.

Without even thinking Daredevil drew his Billy club and launched a line up to the roof and he propelled himself through the skyline, shattering it into a million pieces. Bullseye gives a toothy smile, a sadistic glee took over his body as bright red eyes enter his line of sight. Daredevil pounces at him like a feral demon.

He grabs multiple shards of glass and throws them at Matt who deflected one piece with his club, the act almost spraining his wrist. 'Forgot how hard he could throw things,' Matt thinks. Another two broke against his armor like small pieces of shrapnel, his skin beneath the armor started to blister with each piece of glass exploding on his body. This, however, did not slow him down. His relationship with pain was not like it used to be.

Matt wrapped his arms around Bullseye's waist and he pushed the two of them off of the building. They land on top of a smaller structure and the Irishman gets up first, removing a deck of cards from his belt. "You've gotten better since last time lad. That's good to know. Otherwise, I'd have wasted that extra time training for nothing," he said.

He swipes his hands over the cards and they disappear from his grasp like magic. Matt felt them coming towards him like a flurry of bullets. He covered his face as he felt the cards embed themselves into his armor like needles on board. It almost felt as if he were being pelted with surgical knives, each card lacerating his body more and more.

Bullseye did not let up though. He knew from their previous encounter that allowing Daredevil to get into a close range fight would be suicidal for him. But fortunately, there was plenty of ammunition for him to use.

The two jump off of and scale buildings multiple times. Matt using his Billy club and Bullseye with a grappling gun. The assassin used anything he could get his hands on as a weapon. Clothing lines, clips, rocks, and even a cat. Almost everything hit their mark, with Matt soaking up any damage he received. If anyone saw the fight without context Matt would appear to be an unstoppable aggressor seething with rage.

For several minutes the rooftops of Taipei were host to the two warriors exchanging a dialogue through blood and fists. Bullseye could feel his blood rushing throughout his body. He missed this sensation. He might not get paid after he let the Bertinelli's essentially go bankrupt but after he was done with the Devil he had another job waiting for him. Either way. He would have his fun.

Matt leaps forward and kicks Bullseye in the chest, making him fall to the ground. The assassin throws a tile from the floor at the teenager before he gets up which Matt catches but the marksman then grabs him by the head and smashes another tile over it. Daredevil pushes him away and feels a hot, smooth liquid run down from his nose. His head feels fuzzy and he starts to stumble. 'I killed Mary looking for this asshole. An innocent person died because of me. Because of him,' Matt thinks to himself. He tries to walk forward but he falls to his knees, his sense of balance completely ruined by his spinning head.

"What's the matter? Feeling a wee bit drowsy, are we? That's no fun. Is it?" Bullseye asks patronizingly, rubbing his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. He looks around and his eyes spot something and he snaps his fingers.

"I know. This will wake you right up," he said, using his grapple hook to swing to another rooftop. A woman, holding a baby screamed in fear, seeing a man dressed in a blue, skin-tight suit with white gloves and boots along with three white rings that looked like targets on his forehead. The infant starts to cry and she tries to comfort him while simultaneously trying to gain some distance from the man in front of him.

He puts a finger over his lips and tells her to be quiet. "I apologize Madam but I really need that creature you're holding there," he said, reaching for the baby. She crosses her arms and brings her son closer towards her chest. Seeing that she would not give him up Bullseye removes something from his belt and flicks his wrist.

The woman feels something prick her neck, like a mosquito bite. Her eyes water and become red as she struggles to inhale any air. "Sorry about that. But I want that baby. And if it's any consolation, he has your eyes," he says nonchalantly, removing the child from her failing grip and knocking her over.

Matt heard the mother's heartbeat slowly fade and could feel the strands of fabric that held the baby being dangled over a building by a latex glove. "Alright, you know the drill. You need to get off your arse and save the kid. Get your second wind or whatever it is and start fighting again," Bullseye said, lifting the baby up and down from his perch. Daredevil tries to get his bearings back but that blow to the head did a number on him, having not fully healed from his time in Bialya a few days ago. "Come on son. You can do it," Bullseye told Matt with an encouraging tone of voice.

After a few seconds of being bored by Matt failing to restore his bearings, the marksman lets out a disappointed sigh. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said. He lets the cloth slip through his fingers and lets the baby fall from his hands. Matt heard the child's cries grow more and more distant the closer it got to the street and he felt paralyzed. "No!" he shouts out, reaching his arm out as far as he could even though the action could not have saved the child.

The crying stopped and the two assumed that the baby had met his fate. Bullseye looks down to see his handy work but his jaw dropped at what he saw. "Word of advice. Next time you want to kill someone like that, make sure no one below the building is waiting to catch them," Elektra yelled upwards in a matter of fact tone, rocking the baby back and forth.

"Mother fu-" Bullseye started but he was cut short by a ball of red slamming into him. Matt grabbed him by the shoulder and started to punch him in the face repeatedly. "That kid's going to grow up without a mother thanks to you. Does that even bother you? Do you even care?" he shouts. He hits him a few more times, bursting open Bullseye's lip, the taste of raw iron now fresh in Matt's mouth.

The Irishman's arm twitches as he reaches for his holster and removes the grapple gun. He aims in underneath Matt's chest and presses the trigger with a shaky finger. Matt yelps out as he is launched in the air by the force of the device, making him land back first into the railing of the roof. He bent his arm and placed his hand over the impact site. His ribs where bruised beneath the armor, which was now cracked and straining every time Matt moved. Bullseye never wasted his shot.

Matt spits out some blood of his own as he hears the ground beneath Bullseye's feet shift as the echo of his footsteps gets further and further away. Elektra sees him escaping from street level. She was about to move and start pursuing him but stops when she feels a small breath against her arm. Elektra looks at the baby in her arms and caresses his smooth cheeks. "Matthew. I can't leave the child alone. You need to track him on your own. Lakshmi will send me your coordinates when you do and I'll meet you there," she said quietly so as to not disturb the baby.

"Acknowledged, Lux. Inform any law enforcement you can to try and get this kid some help. And when you give El directions try to make sure that she doesn't jump off of the wrong building again," he said remembering the countless times she misinterpreted a map she pulled up and gave him the completely wrong directions.

"Sure, but Matt. What about the mom?" Lakshmi asks with trepidation. Matt walks over to the now breathless corpse of the woman and lowers his head in shame. "She's gone," he says over the communicator. He places his fingers over her open eyelids and closes them.

He clenches his teeth and breaths in the scent of the mother. Her death will not be in vain. He will bring her killer to justice.

* * *

The night has not been treating Roy Harper very well. He started by stopping the assassin Cheshire from murdering a man in a limo outside the peace summit who turned out to be Lex Luthor. She then tried to seduce him during an interrogation and escaped prison, courtesy of Sportsmaster and he was subsequently thrown off of a helicopter, mid-flight into a body of water.

Needless to say, he has seen better days. But, unbeknownst to the assassins, he placed a tracking device on the chopper and was now following its signal. The archer sees the vehicle landing in the middle of a large, Asian styled, open-roofed structure in the middle of an artificial lake.

Roy scales the wall with his bow and quiver strung behind his back, his wet costume was constricting his movements. "Next time, I'm bringing the anti-grav gloves," he says to himself before reaching the top of the building.

He removes his binoculars and sees Cheshire and Sportsmaster exit the chopper. The two were talking but he couldn't read their lips thanks to their masks but judging by their body language it was not a friendly interaction. He spots a blue blob in the distance and it drops down to greet the assassins.

"Alright Sporty? Looking great for your age mate. Cheshire, my darling. By any chance do you have a twin? I saw a girl today who reminded me of you. Sai's, petite and a bitchy attitude. The whole works," Bullseye said with blood settling between his teeth, during his poor attempt at a smile.

Cheshire crosses her arms and shivers in disgust, she hated working with him. Bullseye was far too manic even by her standards and she was happy to see him in his injured state. Sportsmaster eyes the Irishman with amusement.

"I take it your contract with the Bertinelli's didn't pan out. Who was it this time, Batman?" he asks, trying to maintain a modicum of professionalism. Bullseye shakes his head, "Had a run-in with an old sparring partner. T'was great fun. I haven't seen anguish like that in ages," he said as if he had just won the lottery.

Roy recognises Bullseye and his brow forms a frown. "Now I have to deal with three master assassins. Great, what's next?" he asks himself. "You could stop talking to yourself for a start," he heard someone say behind him. He turns around and reaches for his bow but lowers his hand after seeing who spoke to him. "Daredevil? What're you doing here?" he asks, ignoring the state the hero was in. "Trying to catch Bullseye. You?" Matt asks, grabbing his side, trying alleviate the throbbing in his ribs.

Roy debriefs Matt on the situation and he listens intently. "Luthor on our side? Never thought I'd see the day," he said. "Agreed," Roy responds. Matt feels the air shifting near the entrance where the assassins stood and bickered. The scent of rancid flesh filled his nostrils.

"The evening's agenda was to create strife between nations. Not my assassins," a calm and sophisticated voice said. Cheshire bowed down immediately while Bullseye just sits on the ground, pouting like a spoilt child and Sportsmaster stayed standing.

The voice belonged to a tall and daunting man with green eyes. He has black hair with gray streaks, his hosted a long black mustache and wild, black eyebrows. He dressed in a regal manner, with the majority of his clothes covered by a high-collared green cloak with large gold buttons. Underneath, he wears a black vest with gold hems, a white undershirt, and a golden sash as well as black pants and knee-high black boots.

"Ra's al Ghul?" Roy says in disbelief. Matt gritted his teeth, fed up with the escalating stakes of the night. He was swinging distance away from the head of the League of Shadows. One of the most prolific murderers in history. An immortal, who strives to create peace through the destruction of corrupt civilisations and can be resurrected by his cult in the event of his death.

At least that was what Matt heard of him anyway.

"Master," Cheshire said with reverence. Ra's looked down upon his employee, "You had two attempts tonight to complete your task. And you have disappointed me twice with your failure. Luthor has been a thorn at my side for far too long," he said. Bullseye's jaw opens wide, letting out a loud yawn that echoed off of the walls.

The ancient warlord looked at the Irishman like a school master might do with a rowdy pupil. "And you. I gave you a simple task and from what I gather, you compromised it to partake in a petty grudge match. What do you have to say for yourself?" Ra's asks rhetorically.

Bullseye gives him a cocky grin. "Might want to look behind you mate," he said, standing up. Ra's turns around and sees Daredevil to his side. "It seems the Chaste has sent a child to confront me. I grow tired of interferences from young boys," he said, turning his head to face where Roy was perched, who did not even realize Matt had left his side to ambush the villains below.

"Perfect," Roy said sarcastically as he fired an arrow at Ra's which was deflected by a pole, wielded by Sportsmaster. Cheshire jumped along the various statues in the veranda to reach the rooftop in other to confront Red Arrow. Sportsmaster stayed on the ground to provide support.

Bullseye saw that Matt was 'eyeing' Ra's and stood back. He was curious as to how things might turn out. Daredevil drew his Billy clubs and stood in front of Ra's, happy that Bullseye was staying out of the fight.

"Do you think it wise boy? To cross paths with one who walks in eternity?" Ra's asks Matt. The teenager scoffs. "All I see is a walking corpse. You stink of death, old man. And judging by your stance, you're out of practice," he says, walking closer to his target.

A look that might be interpreted as mirthful appeared on the immortal's face. "I believe you don't see much of anything, my dear boy. But you are indeed perceptive. I have not engaged in personal combat in decades. Though, I have learned over the years that one simply needs to hire the right people to make up for one's shortcomings," he says.

Matt feels the air around him shift. The sound of metal slicing through air rang inside of his ears. He could pick up the outlines of four individuals surrounding him. "You think I can't beat four of your pawns?" Matt asks, almost insulted.

Ra's sees that Bullseye was still not in the mood to fight just yet and sighs. "Very well," he says, clapping his hands. He disappears into the shadows and a cloud of smoke appears with three more ninjas leaping out of it. 'Me and my big mouth,' Matt thinks, scolding himself. He ricochets his club off of two of the assassins, taking them out immediately. One of the ninjas grabs him before he could catch his weapon and tries to push him to the ground. Matt headbutts him and lifts him over his head, throwing him into an assassin that was trying to sneak up behind him, breaking multiple bones of both men on impact.

The standard ninja trained by the Shadows were nowhere near the same skill level as their Hand equivalents. But Matt could not go all out against the Shadows since they were still alive, so he had to hold back against them.

Daredevil fights the remaining three simultaneously, taking a few light blows to the body since his injuries were slowing him down a notch. He grabs one by the arm and twists, making him drop his sword. Matt picks it up and stabs the ninja through the shin, feeling the temperature around the area increase as his opponent started to bleed.

The final ninja tries to use a smoke bomb and escape but Matt throws the blade through the shroud of darkness and pins the turntail to the wall behind him, the sword piercing his hand. Matt scans for Bullseye's heartbeat but it was nowhere to be found.

The sounds of arrows being deflected by metal entered his ears and he turns his attention to Roy. The archer was defending himself from both Cheshire and Sportsmaster, and the fight was not going in his favor.

His bow was cut in half and he was now at the edge of the roof. Matt picks up the Billy club he dropped and rushed towards his location and launched a line upwards, trying to reach Roy in time. He was inches away from the roof when he hears something come towards him. Matt feels his Billy club's line slacken as the whip-like sound of it being cut was heard. His eyes widen in shock as he slams straight into the wall, damaging his already bruised chest.

He calls upon every ounce of strength he has so that he could climb onto the top of the building. The two shadows see the two heroes who were not in any position to fight and they walk towards them.

Matt feels two more projectiles hit his back, he turns around and feels something hit him straight in the head, sending pieces of his helmet to crumble on the floor. Daredevil could feel the air hitting his skin, through the small gaps in his headgear. In spite of the sound of blood rushing through his ears like the roaring sea, he could hear Bullseye laughing in the distance.

Roy started to move forward to reach Matt but Cheshire brandished her sai, showing him that he had no way of helping his fallen comrade. Sportsmaster walked toward Matt and picked him up. "Let's see what you look like under that thing," he said, grabbing Matt's broken helmet. The teenager removed a knife from his belt and cut the older man in the arm, making him lose his grip.

He rushed towards Roy and kicked Cheshire out of the way. "No, no, no. Wait!" Roy shouts out but Matt ignores him, he had no energy to listen to him. He grabs Roy and leaps off of the roof along with the archer, the two falling into the water of the moat.

Cheshire and Sportsmaster peer down to see if the two survived. They see bubbles from where they dived into the water but do not see any bodies. "You let them get away? You two are terrible at your jobs," Bullseye says, climbing up to meet his co-workers.

"Utter one more sarcastic comment and I will geld you like a horse. Understand?" Cheshire asks him, pointing her sai downwards. Bullseye simply nods, he was not in the mood to argue.

* * *

A few hundred meters away, at the bank of an artificial canal, Roy dragged the unconscious, wet and quite frankly heavy body of Daredevil to shore. Matt coughs out a mixture of salt water and blood. "That was… terrible," was all that he could say between spurts of coughing and great big inhalations of air.

"Can't believe I'm saying this but I think, maybe. We might possibly need to call in some help," Roy said, putting his communicator inside his moist ear canal. Matt squirms as he hears the sound of the device, pressing against wet earwax. "Yeah. I'll call my guys too. They are not gonna be happy," Matt says.

* * *

"That bloody numbskull. What was he thinking, taking on the Shadows on his own?" Elektra asks angrily running across rooftops. "I have to hear him do stupid things almost every night. You get used to it. Right turn at the next building," Lux said over the intercom.

Elektra slows down, "Are you sure? Last time you said right I almost jumped into a jacuzzi filled with fat, old women," she said. Lakshmi rubs her head after remembering her blunder, "I had the screen inverted by accident," she said, momentarily distracted by Elektra's English-French accent.

She gives the former assassin further directions until she reached the building Matt told her about. "So this is where Mr. Luthor's brokering peace. The irony," Elektra said, remembering the number of missions the Hand gave her to either sabotage or find information on LexCorp weapons and military deals.

The two girls share an awkward silence for some time, which was not an enjoyable experience for either of them. "So… you were really good with the baby back there," Lux said, hoping that that was not an awkward way to start a conversation.

Elektra traces her finger over the whip marks on her back. "Children are simple and innocent. You just need to be kind to them and they'll take care of the rest. I can't stand anyone who would hurt one of them. I mean, granted, they can be an annoyance at times," she said with a small chuckle.

"Have you ever been on a bus or a plane and some kid just starts randomly kicking your seat from the one behind you?" Lux asks. Elektra laughs, "Yes. Oh my God yes. My foster father calls them the 'Devil children' which is somewhat ironic considering who we associate ourselves with," she says.

The two laughs once more and Lux wipe a small tear from her face. "If you don't mind my asking. Why do you help Matthew? I know he's your friend but you're breaking countless laws by aiding him," Elektra asks over the comms.

Lux pauses for a moment. "I guess it's because I feel like I owe him. My douchebag of an ex-boyfriend was the nephew of some guy called Nobu in the Yakuza. They attacked me since my uncle had some top-secret military stuff they wanted. Matt got his ass kicked trying to save me and I've been helping him out ever since. He does like ninety percent of the work, I just comb through any data he acquires and leak it to the right people," she said quietly, not wanting to recall those events. Elektra was impressed by her modesty, she knew Lakshmi did far more than that for Matt. But one bit of information continued to bother her.

"Sendo? Did you date that prick? No offense but you could do much better from what I know of you," Elektra said. Lux rests her hand on her chin and puffs some air out, which Elektra hears on her earpiece. "Yeah. I guess. So why do _you_ help him out? It can't just be about your history with the Hand. I mean, you don't seem like you need his help to wreck their shit," she asks her.

Elektra considers her answer for a few seconds. "Most people, they only notice me because of what I look like or because of my father's wealth. It can be flattering on occasion but most of the time it is tiring and at other times demoralizing. Like I'm only worth their attention thanks to my looks. But Matthew, he didn't care about that. How could he? He saw me for who I really am. What I am. He sees the darkness beyond my pretty face and he does not seem bothered by it. It's like he thinks there's something good in me. And he wants to nurture that. Honestly, he's one of the only people I've ever met that makes me feel… human," she says softly, unsure of where all this introspection came from.

Lux nods, "Yeah. Matt does that. Maybe that's why those superhero friends of his elected him as their leader." Elektra sees something out of the corner of her eye, "Speaking of supers, I assume you're the other fighter Matthew told me about?"

The figure behind looked at her with confusion. "I am not entirely sure as to who you're referring to," Aqualad said. Elektra slaps herself in the forehead, she forgot that Matt didn't tell the team his name. "Daredevil. I meant Dare- Never mind. I'm Elektra Natchios. May as well give you my real name after that slip-up," she said with a small blush.

Aqualad bowed, "I'm Kaldur'ahm. But my friends call me Kaldur." Elektra looked at the Atlantean and could not help but admire his physique. She turned away and crossed her arms, 'You've a boyfriend now. Stop looking at the chiseled fish boy with abs like marble,' she thinks to herself. Kaldur was not sure why she was reacting like this, perhaps it was some surface dweller greeting ritual he was not aware of.

"I hope that increased heart rate was for me El," Matt said weakly. She pivoted on her heel, almost falling after hearing his voice. She walks towards him but stops when she sees all the damage he had accumulated to himself and his armor over the past few hours alone.

Roy was supporting him and let him down slowly. "I'm fine. Thanks, man," he said, putting his finger between the cracks in his mask, itching the parts that were being penetrated by it. Elektra punches Matt in the shoulder making him yell out in surprise. "What was that for?' he asks incredulously, rubbing his now aching arm.

"That's for being the most reckless, irresponsible idiot I ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes on!" she yelled back. Matt raised a brow and smirked. "Aww. You do care. That's sweet," he said making his girlfriend even more annoyed.

Aqualad stood between the two. "I think _Matthew's_ healing meditation would be more effective if we let him be," he said. Matt flinched when he heard Kalure use his real name, he could hear the sense of betrayal in his voice. 'I'll need to talk to him about that later,' he thinks to himself. Matt sits cross-legged and flattens his hands on his knees. The three could see his belly contract and expand, indicating that he had started to meditate.

"So you must be Red Arrow. A pleasure," Elektra said, extending her hand to greet the older hero. An action which Roy did not reciprocate. "Let's get one thing straight. I owe the Devil for saving my life. That's the only reason I've let someone like _you_ on board this operation. Don't think for a second that just because you're his little squeeze, I won't put an arrow in your heel if you betray us."

Elektra, unfazed by Roy's language walked right in front of him and stared him dead in the eye. "I hear you're partial to dangerous women with sai. It must burn you to see someone like _me_ with a man like him," she said with a knowing glint in her eye. The archer's usual stone cold, expressionless face started to show some hints of anger. He had enough of sassy assassins for tonight.

"This is not helpful. Roy, appraise me of the situation," Aqualad said with a firm voice. He was used to taking command when Matt was not available to do so himself. Elektra walked away from Roy and crouched next to Matt. She took off pieces of his armor and started to apply herbal ointments over his injuries whilst he continued to meditate. They have done this to each other dozens of times in the past.

Roy looks at her with a distrustful eye and turns to Kaldur. "It's a long story."

* * *

The League of Shadows wants you dead," Roy told Lex Luthor, cross-armed and sick to the core since he had to protect the alleged villain. The bald man puts on his cufflinks, "Doesn't every League?" he asks glibly, whilst Mercy, his bodyguard picked up his coat for him. "It's not just Cheshire. It's Sportsmaster, Bullseye and Ra's al Ghul himself," Roy said.

Luthor paused when he said that. Mercy helped him put on his coat and he thanked her after the fact. "I can't say I'm surprised. Ra's is something of a… competitor of mine," Lex says, straightening his tie. Roy scowled at him, unnerved by how well Luthor was receiving this information. "Then maybe I should just stand aside and watch you take each other out."

"Your stab at pragmatism is, well, adorable. But the summit and peace are at stake. Remember? We shall increase security. But, if the Shadows think you're dead, maybe we can surprise them," Lex said with a practiced smile.

Roy cracks his knuckles. "I've got a better surprise."

* * *

Matt listened for anything in the environment that might be a threat to the people in the building. The leaders of South and North Rhaelasia were arguing over petty differences and Luthor kept reminding them of what makes them similar. What unified their two countries. Their love of art, their people and their traditional tea ceremony.

He was wearing civilian clothing since his armor was too conspicuous and damaged to use. Roy stood behind Luthor and the politicians. He was in a row of people including multiple Rhaelasian security forces, dressed in black and grey suits as well as Mercy, who was directly behind Luthor.

If it weren't for the fact that LexCorps toxic waste was the thing that made him blind, Matt might have even admired the business man's tactics. He heard a woman pushing a trolly behind him, the smell of jasmine tea reminded him of his mother and how she would buy some for him to smell after he lost his sight. He tilts his head, hearing helicopter blades in the distance.

But he snapped back to reality when he smelled the gunpowder beneath the cart. "Aqualad, watch your six," Matt said over the comms. Kaldur, also in civilian garb turned around and took one of his water bearers out of his pocket. "That is far enough. Cheshire," he said. The assassin looks around her. She sees a girl with black hair and emerald eyes removing a pair of sai from her red dress and someone in black with the top half of their face covered in a black cloth using Daredevil's Billy clubs.

She sees Red Arrow draw an arrow from his quiver and a sadistic grin morphed across her face. She pushes a button and pushes the trolly forward, activating the bomb. Matt leaps over it and shoots out a line from his Billy club. He grabs the trolly and pushes it towards the window, which Elektra shatters with a few shuriken.

The bomb falls out of the window and explodes, the shockwave making everyone in the conference hall fall over. Aqualad managed to manipulate some water to form a large shield to give everyone some extra protection. Unfortunately, Cheshire was one of those people.

Kaldur drops the shield and his tattoos stop glowing. He breathes heavily as he catches his breath from the effort of blocking the shockwave. The four heroes surround the fallen Cheshire, whose ears were ringing from the explosion.

Roy aims an arrow at her, "It's over," he says. "You would think so," she said, jumping back up. Matt heard the helicopter he heard before rise up and hover in front of the broken windows.

Sportsmaster and Bullseye exit the vehicle along with an entourage of Shadow ninja. The Rhaelasian leaders command their men to attack the intruders with impunity. They remove collapsible batons from their blazers and engage with the ninja.

One guard tried to hit Sportsmaster, who just deflected the attack with his gauntlet and pushed the man aside with no effort. Another tried to kick him but the assassin simply grabbed his leg and threw him backward. Matt was impressed with his skill, unlike himself, Sportsmaster wasted no energy using fancy moves while fighting grunts.

Bullseye threw multiple projectiles into the Rhaelasian guards. He did not kill them, he saw no sport in that. But he would not hold everyone to that standard. The Irishman sees the figure clad in black in front of him. "I've got to say, laddie. Red looks better on you."

Matt taps his clubs in response. "I've got Bullseye. Aqualad and El, you take care of Sportsmaster - "Roy fires an arrow at Cheshire before Matt finished his sentence. "Cheshire's mine," he said vindictively. She grins when she heard that, "So territorial and only on the third date," she said, cutting through his arrow with her sai.

Elektra looked at the other female fighter with admiration for her form. 'She leaves her left a bit too exposed though,' she thinks to herself. Aqualad forms chained maces with his water bearers and he strikes Sportsmaster in the helmet. He uses a javelin to block every attack the Atlantean threw at him. Elektra tries to stab him with her sai but he could predict every movement, he did teach Cheshire how to use her sai after all. He deflects one of her blades and drives a knee into her gut.

Matt leaps into the air and forms a cross with his Billy clubs, blocking three shurikens from hitting the politicians behind him. He kicks a few pieces of glass in the direction of Bullseye, who covers his face to protect his eyes. Matt then strikes him on the head multiple times. When Bullseye throws a punch, the teenager ducks and hits his knees. Bullseye falls over but grabs Matt and pushes him to the ground as well. The two roll around on broken glass, taking turns being the ones on top of the other. He knew this wasn't the most dignified way of fighting but as long as he was smothering Bullseye, Matt knew that he couldn't threaten the men he was protecting.

"So, you called one of your sidekick friends. Didn't you tell me that they weren't in your league?" Cheshire asks rhetorically, goading Roy. Kaldur gets distracted by what she said and capitalized on that. He ran into the Atlantean at full speed, extending his arm out, hitting Kaldur in the neck. He flips around due to the force of the attack and falls violently on to the floor.

Sportsmaster pulls out a device and allows a cable, with a spiked ball at the end to fall to the floor, creating a small crater as it did. Elektra helps Kaldur up and pushes him aside as Sportsmaster spun the ball around and launched it at their location. It slammed into the ground and formed a small hole where Kaldur was previously lying.

Elektra rushes forward and makes a stabbing motion toward Sportsmaster's eye. The blond assassin grabs her wrist before the sai reached his face but that was what she wanted. She cuts the line connecting the ball to the device and uses Sportsmaster as a springboard, leaping back to Kaldur's location.

The assassin looks at his ruined weapon and a hint of excitement was shown in his eyes. "Didn't think the Hand was helping Luthor now. The lack of professional courtesy is appalling. How about you help me end him and we can split the take? Plenty to go around," he said.

Elektra sees the older man and shrugs her shoulders. "Your personal kill count is what? Sixty? Seventy at most? You're still in the nursery compared to me," she said coldly. Sportsmaster removes some explosive disks and Aqualad forms a pair of swords as a response. "Prove it," the villain said, leaping in to engage the teenagers.

The exits were blocked due to the fight, so the diplomatic parties could not escape the room. They all huddled together with their backs against the walls. All except Luthor, who was watching the whole spectacle with great care.

A few minutes go by and most of the grunts on both sides have fallen. Roy was using his bow as a quarterstaff, trying to fend of Cheshire's assault. Matt was keeping Bullseye busy, taking as many hits as he could to safeguard the civilians, if you could call them that. And Sportsmaster was having a hell of a time fighting Elektra and Aqualad.

Every time Roy tries to hit Cheshire, she uses her superior agility to disorientate him and leap back. If he even thought about using one of his arrows she throws a few projectiles of her own and rushes in to attack. This meant he could only fight defensively and that was not his forte.

Sportsmaster was now using a fencing sword against his opponents and was making sure that they kept their distance. He noticed that Elektra was hesitating whenever she had a chance to go for a lethal blow. 'Not used to fighting on the side of the angels? Cute,' he thinks to himself. He throws a ball of gas towards her, slowing her down.

Aqualad locks his swords with Sportsmaster's. "Not bad Lad. Better than your team did in Santa Prisca. Or Bialya," he said, pulling his sword back. Aqualad was taken aback by that statement. Even Roy and Matt froze when they heard that.

"How did you - " Kaldur started but the villain interrupted him. "Let's just say I've got a source on the inside. _Very_ inside." Elektra started to fight Cheshire, giving Roy time to regain his senses and get to higher ground, scaling a statue inside the large room.

Matt smells the stale water in the sprinklers and gets an idea. "Roy! The pipes," he shouts out, holding Bullseye in an arm lock.

The archer looks up and draws an arrow. "Aqualad, let's end this," he said, firing the projectile. Water sprayed out from above as the sprinklers did their job. Matt hated sprinklers, the water smelled terrible, it temporarily screwed with his hearing and the pressure was aggravating his wounds. But Aqualad reveled in the sensation. He could feel his skin absorb the liquid and it empowered him.

His tattoos glow a bright blue and Aqualad extends his arms, making every drop freeze in mid-air. He then put his bearers together and all the water spiraled together. It towered above everyone and eventually formed the long, elongated body of a large serpent.

He let his creation lose, aiming the water body at every Shadow in the room. Swiping them off the ground and into the belly of the artificial beast. Matt pushed Bullseye into the jaws of the construction and grabbed Elektra by the waist, grappling up to avoid everything below them. "Matthew," she said, tapping his arm. He felt the warmth of her hips through her clothing and removed his hand. "I didn't say let go," she said playfully. Matt rolled his eyes behind his mask but chuckled. Roy felt like vomiting, seeing the two.

The water-born serpent was mere feet away from Sportsmaster. Cheshire leaps in front of him and arms a small grenade. She throws it into its jaws, evaporating Kaldur's construction. A giant cloud of smoke erupted from the explosion but luckily, the water took the brunt of the force.

Roy and Kaldur were coughing, after inhaling the smoke but Elektra spots something move in the cloud. Two pieces of glass enter Aqualad's gills at high speed, making him grab his throat and roll on the ground, unable to breathe. Another shard was seen passing through the cloud but this time, it was headed towards Roy.

The archer gasped as he felt someone push him to the ground and heard a voice hiss in pain. A female voice. Elektra was on top of him, the glass embedded in her shoulder. Roy took her and Kaldur aside, away from the smoke, to avoid any more interference from Bullseye.

The Irish assassin used his grappling hook to swing into the air and was traveling towards Luthor. But the businessman did not panic. "Mercy," he commands.

The bodyguard raises her arm and a small metal probe exits it. She aims it at the assassin and a blast of orange energy was emitted from it. Matt could taste the electricity crackle in the air as it neared Bullseye.

He screams in agonizing pain as he falls to the ground, his grapple line falling unceremoniously on the floor. Bullseye wipes the spit off of his chin and stares at Mercy. "Alright. I did not see that coming," he said, flicking his wrist. Mercy was about to fire again but she hears something hit her metal arm. She looks down and sees a knife blocking her muzzle.

Bullseye's body aches as he stands up. He looks at Luthor and for the first time tonight, he felt fear. The marksman sees the look on his face and removes one last blade from his belt. He aims it at Luthor but drops the weapon as something thin clasps his neck.

"No more killing. Not on my watch," Matt said through his teeth as he tightened the hold his Billy club had on Bullseye. The assassin picks up a piece of glass and despite his eyes watering and swelling like they were stung by a swarm of bees he throws it and hits Matt in the wrist.

His grip on Bullseye loosens and he runs towards Luthor. Matt tackles him to the ground and stands him up. He throws a jab to his chin and then an uppercut, dazing the assassin. Seeing him refusing to go down Matt jumps in the air and spun around, extending his legs, utilizing the increased momentum to deliver an almighty kick to Bullseye's chest.

But Matt misjudged the amount of force he applied to the attack and Bullseye was launched across the room and zoomed through the open window and started plummeting to the ground. Daredevil noticed that all the other assassins in the room had left, so they would not be able to catch their colleague.

Matt fired his Billy club and it tied around one of the pillars. He runs off of the building and dives down to reach Bullseye. He could hear the assassins heartbeat racing faster than he's ever heard before. Matt felt the air around him getting denser and could taste the assassins sweat. He extends his free arm and grabs Bullseye by the back of the neck.

He presses a button and the wire from his Billy club tightens. He holds onto Bullseye for dear life and swings into a window. The glass shatters and the two trip and roll on to the ground, gasping desperately for air. Bullseye sees that Matt's wounds started to bleed again through his black shirt and he cracks his own neck, relieving some pain he had built up in that area.

"That was really stupid. You know that?" he said standing over Matt. He slowly crouched down and gently wrung his fingers around Matt's throat. "I am going to enjoy this lad. Well, more than you anyway," he said with a menacing whisper.

Matt banged his arms against Bullseye's wrists but it was not good. His grip was like a vice. He could feel the blood rushing towards his head. He tries to let out a noise, a scream. Anything. But it just came out as hoarse wheezing.

Bullseye started to smile as Matt's attempts at struggling slowly became less energetic. "I'd ask if you had any last words but I suppose that'd defeat the point," he said, laughing at his own terrible joke.

He looks up and raises his hands from Matt's throat. Bullseye forms two fists, catching two arrows. The tips of the projectiles blink a bright red and then release some knock out gas. The Irishman held his breath before that but it still stung his eyes.

Bullseye sees a blur of red in front of him. He squints to try and make it out but then feels his stomach loosen up. He looks down and sees a sai, penetrating his abdomen. "Get away from him," he heard Elektra say. She was tempted to twist the blade by a few millimeters to sever a few arteries but resists the urge after seeing Matt gasping loudly for air.

Roy gets behind Bullseye and puts a pair of handcuffs on him. "You're going away for a long, long time pal," he told the assassin. Elektra looks at the archer, expecting some sort of heartfelt speech like Matt usually gave her. But instead, Roy just gives her a small nod.

She shakes her head and gives him a thumbs up. They said what needed to be said.

* * *

Bullseye was taken away by Taiwanese special forces. From what Matt heard, they had a special prison built for men like him. Matt and Elektra oversaw the handover process. Bullseye sees the two and spits on the ground, prompting one of the soldiers to strike him in the gut with his rifle, breaking a few of his stitches. Elektra had her arm around Matt's the whole time. She did not want to leave him alone.

"Why did you save him?" she asks, giving him a concerned look. Matt's head faces downwards, "I don't know. It was just instinct. I suppose I could never live with myself if I killed another person." Elektra's moves closer towards him, "Even Bullseye?" she asks. Matt does not answer. He was not sure how he would feel if that scum had died at his hand.

"I can't believe we just did a solid for Lex Luthor," Roy tells Kaldur as they join Matt and Elektra outside. The Rhealasians were ogling over Mercy's arm cannon and were now more eager than ever to do business with Luthor. Even willing to sign the treaty as a show of good faith.

Aqualad places his hand on Roy's shoulder. "We did it for peace. Not Luthor," he said diplomatically. Matt joins the two along with Elektra. "But that's not the problem. You heard Sportsmaster. We've got a mole on the team."

"Any chance he was lying?" Elektra asks. Matt shakes his head, "No. Heartbeat, blood sugar level, the rate of sweat. It all checked out," he said. "We will have to investigate further. In secret," Aqualad said.

Roy was surprised, "So you won't tell the team?" he asks. "We don't want to alert the mole. Besides, we don't want to cause an unnecessary divide amongst our people if the big guy was lying the whole time," Matt said, understanding Aqualad's reasoning.

"Good luck with that," Roy said, giving them a two finger salute before walking off. "One moment. Tonight, you could have called Green Arrow for help. Instead, you contacted the cave. Why?" Kaldur asks calmly. Red Arrow sighs. "You're right. The team deserves… has my respect. I'm still getting used to the solo thing. But if you need my help, I'll be there," he said with a small smile. The three boys shake hands and Elektra simply waves goodbye and Roy walks away.

Matt grips Elektra tighter, not wanting to talk to Aqualad alone. "Kaldur. I'm sorry that I wasn't honest with you. You of all people deserved to know my real identity. And I should have been the one to tell you not Elektra," he said apologetically.

"You are a private individual. I understand your reluctance to share your personal life with anyone. You must be truly special if he has opened up to you so much," Kaldur said with a kind voice, turning to Elektra. Matt and Elektra were not expecting an answer like that. "Um… thanks for understanding. I'll tell the team myself eventually. Let's just handle the mole thing first," he said.

Kaldur and Matt share a hug and Elektra pecs the Atlantean on the cheek. He smiles at the two and walks towards the nearest Zeta platform.

* * *

The young couple make their way on top of a nearby building. Elektra looked at the night sky and her mind sped through the events of tonight. "What a night," she said gazing at the stars. Matt stood up, "Wait a minute… Lux. It's around eight in the morning stateside right? Lux?"

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah. Happy Birthday, Matt. I sent you your gift. Check your messages," she said through many yawns over the communicator. 'Must have dozed off. Can't say I blame her,' he thinks to himself.

Elektra cycles through the messages on her communicator and finds one from Lakshmi from a few hours ago. She reads the message and a salacious look appears on her face. "What?" Matt asks, hearing her heartbeat increase.

She whispers into his ear and Matt's stoic expression melts away and one of giddiness replaces it. "She booked a hotel room? Like for- you know. Us?" he asks nervously. Elektra puts her arms around Matt and kisses him. "Don't worry Matthew. I'll be gentle," she says seductively, whispering in his ear.

Elektra leaps off of the building and Matt had a dumbfounded look on his face. "Lux. You are the best friend I've ever had!" he said excitedly, as he followed his girlfriend.

* * *

Blood continued to pool at the bottom of the vehicle, the liquid was sloshing back and forth like the tide. The doctors who stitched Bullseye up did not seem all too skilled. It was not helped by that suckerpunch from the guard earlier. His gut felt like it was on fire. The girl hadn't hit any vital organs but the pain was intolerable.

But not as intolerable as the thought of going to some Taiwanese prison. He turned to the guard sitting next to him. "I hope you showered today mate," he said weakly. The guard yelled a few expletives his way. Bullseye sees the man's exposed neck and opens his mouth. He drives his teeth through his jugular and spits out some warm, wet flesh onto the other guards face.

The second guard panics and fires his weapon. Bullseye moves his arms to the side and the bullet breaks through his chains. He grabs the pistol and with the man's hand still grabbing on to it, he slowly aims it towards the guards chest. Bullseye pulls the trigger and a bullet enters the man's lungs.

The driver pushes hard on the breaks, making Bullseye stumble backwards into the reinforced door. He stands up and rips some material off of his sleeve and uses it to bandage his stab wound. "The Devil and his bitch. I'll gut them both for this," he tells himself, motivating him to keep staying awake.

He hears footsteps at the sides of the vehicle. He rubs his eyes, not wanting to fall unconscious. Keys rattle inside the lock of the door and Bullseye inhales and exhales at a rapid pace. The door opens and in a split second the three guards heads explode like lemons. He comes out of the vehicle and sees the other armored truck stop. He fires at the men who got out of it. They fall before they could even raise their weapons.

Bullseye then hears the sound he hates the most. The click of an empty gun. "Ah, screw it," he says, throwing the gun into the head of the final guard, caving his skull in. He keels over and sees the carnage around him. Eight men dead in fifteen seconds.

"Blood loss was slowing me down," he says to himself.

He turns around, hearing a pair of hands clapping. "Bravo. That was an impressive display," he heard a woman say in the distance. Bullseye looks around with his failing vision and finds another gun. He bends over to pick it up but someone kicks him in the back and pins him to the ground.

"Do not move a muscle whilst she speaks," an man of asian descent said with a deep voice. Bullseye noticed that he was wearing red ninja garb. The woman raised her hand and Nobu let the marksman stand.

He points a finger at Shiva. "Listen lass, I don't… " he starts but she interrupts him. Bullseye's entire body shuts down. He could not move at all, as if he had been tied down by a boulder. He sees Lady Shiva's finger touching his neck. "Chi blocking is a very complex art and I won't bother explaining it to you Mr. Poindexter," she said calmly, releasing her hold on Bullseye.

"How'd ya know my name?" he asks, rubbing his neck, shocked to feel no sensation of pain there at all. "The Shadows will no longer do business with you. Daredevil and his friends have seen to that. I assume the girl did that to you," she said, pointing a finger at his wound.

Bullseye nods, not wanting to be his usual disruptive self around this woman. "Ra's sought to control you. But I want to unleash you. Unleash you upon a few mutual enemies," she said, crouching down so that she could have eye contact with him.

Nobu's look becomes more relaxed and Bullseye stares at Shiva. "I'm not wearing that shite when I sign up," he said, looking at Nobu. Shiva smiles pats his shoulder. "Welcome to the Hand."

* * *

 **I am done. Wow, I loved writing that chapter. I wanted to develop Matt and Elektra's characters and relationship a bit more and hope that I've achieved that.**

 **Also, how awesome was the action in this episode. I never realised how good the choreography was till I rewatched it.**

 **I appreciate all the comments, follows and favourites. It's like instant feedback for me. Hope I did the romance stuff alright. Writing those aren't really my strong suit. Before anyone asks, I will not write lemon scenes. I personally think that they are unnecessary and halt the story's pace.**

 **Bullseye is a sadistic little shit in the comics and I've attempted to implement as much of that into this chapter.**

 **Next chapter Matt and friends take on a few elemental robots.**

 **See you later!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Home Front and Alpha Male:**

 **Gotham, Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010: **

"Ouch. So you talked to him after that?" Robin asks Matt as the two teenagers swing through the ageing city of Gotham. He nods, recalling his conversation with Kaldur in Taipei. Bruce was busy on a mission with the League and asked Matt if he could help Dick patrol the city.

Since he wanted to talk to Robin anyways he agreed. Luckily for the two of them, Gotham was surprisingly quiet this evening; barring an incident where a man was trying to rob a store using a gun that shoots out ketchup and mustard. An event that Matt wished was just an drug-induced dream.

"I'll talk to Kaldur today at the cave. I need to be upfront with him," Matt says making Dick give him an unsure look. "How upfront we talking about?"

Matt rubs his nose, "Really upfront. Like full on origin story upfront. He deserves to know everything." The two grapple onto a small run-down building and stand. "What about the rest of the team? They're not going to be too whelmed if they find out you only gave Aqualad that info," Robin says with a serious expression.

"We'll cross that bridge once we rectify this mole thing. Can't risk divulging that knowledge to anyone else. Besides, even if there isn't a mole, Wally would probably blurt out my secrets by accident," Matt says with a chuckle. He turns to Dick, "By the way. I need to ask…"

"If I'm the mole? Nope. And I had no idea one existed till you told me. Now we got that out of the way, you narrow down the list of suspects?" Robin asks as if we was expecting this line of questioning.

Matt's expression turns sour. He spent hours trying to figure out why anyone on the team would ever turn traitor. Unfortunately for him, he's dealt with enough criminals to understand why someone would compromise on their morals.

"Superboy and Artemis," he said quickly. He considered adding M'ganns name to the list but decided against it since he couldn't see any logical reason why she would betray the team. 'Why did I even consider her?' Matt thinks to himself.

Robin nods in agreement. His own list had those two at the top. Superboy might have some left over Cadmus programming that made him leak information on the team's activities without him even knowing. Whilst Artemis has two active criminals, that the team have fought as immediate family members. She has the incentive to turn her back on the heroic path.

Matt trusts those two with his life but he needed to consider every possibility, even if it tore him apart. "When we get to the cave I'll tell them that Bats wants me to interview everyone for something like a verbal review or whatever. I'll talk to Kaldur first, then you. After that, the rest of team one by one. I'll listen to their heartbeats and see if everyone's telling the truth," Matt says, cycling through the questions he planned to ask.

"So. You have any more bombshells from that night that you want to share?" Robin asks with a smile, bracing for more bad news. But instead, Matt blushes and turns his back. "N-nothing major," he says with a stutter.

The young detective noticed this obvious change in Matt's behavior. He recalls the events from the mission report he read from the Batcave and remembers that Elektra was present that day. A curious brow rises and Robin nudges his older friend in the ribs. "Ok. Now I really need to know what happened," he says with a cheeky grin.

Matt grumbles incoherently under his breath, blushing further after recalling the events of that night in his mind. Dick sees this and gasps after an epiphany dawned on him. "No way. You didn't? Seriously? Dude. That's awesome. Hope she felt the astor," the young teenager said making Daredevil bury his face in his hands, unable to handle the embarrassment.

"Can we like focus? We've got bigger things to talk about than my love life," Matt says with a breaking voice. But Robin was not done with his heckling. "Bigger things… funny. That's what she said," he says with a giggle, making Matt roll his eyes. 'That's not even how that joke works,' Matt thinks to himself.

"When you start dating I swear to God. I'm going to make your life miserable," Daredevil says, pointing at Robin. The two continue to banter, with Matt's face becoming a brighter shade of red with every passing minute. 'If this is how Robin reacts, Jesus. Wally would be a nightmare,' Matt thinks to himself. But a familiar heartbeat made him sigh with relief.

He leaps down into an alley and waves his hand. "Hey Artemis," he says making the archer jump, not expecting to see Daredevil in Gotham. Much to her displeasure, she sees Robin join the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. She did not want him to know her secrets too, which meant she needed to devise an excuse to explain why she's in Gotham and not Star City with Green Arrow.

"Artemis?" Robin asks with a coy smile. Her eyebrows scrunch up and her heartbeat elevates, "Robin. Hi, uh..." she says, with her voice trailing on. "How random that you're in Gotham City. Instead of Star City with your _uncle_ Green Arrow," he says with a smile that would make the Joker envious.

Daredevil steps in between them. "I'm sure she has her reasons, Rob. Didn't Bats tell you it's rude to be presumptuous about a lady," he says crossing his arms. Dick bit his thumb, struggling to keep his racing mind calm with the comebacks he was thinking of. "Hmm… I wonder if that's what Elek - " Robin began but Matt covered his mouth and virtually threw him into the phone box that housed the Zeta platform.

He heard the younger boy laugh his head off as he was transported to the cave by the portal. Artemis comes up to Matt. "Thanks. For covering for me," she says, looking down sheepishly. Matt raises her head up gently, "What are friends for?" he asks kindly.

The two enter the booth and wait for the Zeta Beam to send them to their headquarters.

* * *

Matt and Artemis start coughing once they reach the cave. Turning his head around in all directions, Matt could feel entire sections of the cave either being on fire or submerged under water.

He could hear Dick throwing his disks at unknown assailants, though judging by his lack of accuracy the smoke from the fires must be obscuring his vision. Robin leaps back to where the two are and Artemis draws her bow firing blindly into the smog.

Matt feels an intense surge of heat coming their way and he grabs the two and pushes them to the ground. He holds them tight as he feels a large ball of firefly inches above his back. Robin and Artemis get back up and ready their projectiles once more but Matt raises his hand. "Don't waste your ammo. They're too tough for you to do any damage," he says, remembering the clanking sound he heard when one of Robin's actually hit its mark.

"They?" Robin asks in a snappy manner. Daredevil points his finger towards an entrance of a corridor, "I'll explain later. Run," he says, ushering them along. Seconds later a wall of fire erupts in the very location they stood on moments ago.

Robin looks at Matt. "What about the exit?" he asks. A torrent of water emerges from that part of the cave and the lenses on Dick's mask widen. "Who am I kidding? It's never that easy."

The three-run through the gym and Robin attempts to contact the team. He tries all their channels but hears only static. "I can hear their heartbeats. They're fine but I doubt they're in any position to answer a call right now. Plus, I can't detect any radio waves in the air. They must have taken out the dishes," Matt says, happy that his friends were still alive.

They are knocked down by the pressure of the gym's door exploding behind them. A twister, consisting of flames followed the teenagers. "Robin. The wall," Matt says. Dick nods and throws a few explosive disks to where Matt gestured to. Artemis and Robin cover their eyes as the wall is blown up, protecting them from the dust produced.

Running through the newly formed exit Matt suddenly feels a drop in temperature. The fiery tornado just disappeared. "Where does this lead?" Artemis asks. Matt concentrates for a few seconds and answers. "The kitchen which has an air vent that leads to the boiler room. We can use the vents there and sneak our way back into the hanger," he says.

"And how do you know that?" she asks with a sense of restlessness. Matt shrugged, "Memorised the cave's layout the day I got here. Didn't you guys?" he asks. The practice was ingrained in him during the initial stages of his training. You never know when you would need to make a strategic retreat at any given location.

The three reach the kitchen and Artemis spots the air vent above the stove. She removes the grill and they climb into it. Matt could literally taste everything that the vent has sucked up. Traces of old and now moldy food, dust, droplets of sweat and saliva. Sad thing was that this was one of the cleaner vents he had ever crawled through.

"Turn left," Matt instructs Artemis who was in front of the boys. He follows Robin to the left corner and the instant he turns a short burst of fire floods the part of the vents he was in. "What's with all these close calls? They're unnaturally convenient," he asks. Robin chuckles, "You'd be surprised how often that happens in these kinds of situations."

Artemis was breathing very hard, doing her best not to panic in this situation and her teammates were busy cracking jokes. Luckily for her, she sees the end of the vent. She kicks down the cover and jumps down into the boiler room.

The boys join her and Matt runs towards the end of the room. "Through here," he says, removing the bolted vent cover in the wall. He waits till his teammates were inside and he joins them, glad that he avoided to humanoid figure, covered in fire that just found its way to the boiler room.

After about a minute passes Robin asks the two to stop and he sets plugs into a socket in the vent's wiring. "Locking out Cave's motion and heat sensors so the enemy can't track us," he says, typing away at his wrist-mounted holographic display.

"Alright. Who is the enemy?" Artemis asks, turning to Matt. Scratching his chin, Daredevil does his best to describe what he discovered in visual terms. "Two humanoid structures. Large, mechanical and fast for their weight. I think one controls fire and the other water. The Team's stuck in the hanger. The sphere's stuck in a wall. Wally and Connor are immobile, so something must be trapping them while M'gann and Kaldur are surrounded by a substantial amount of heat, probably fire. The bots are currently wandering around the training area and I'm pretty sure Wally ate a BLT on the way here. Anything else?" Matt asks, summarizing what he knew.

Artemis gave him a blank expression. She wasn't used to Daredevil dumping so much information on her lap. "Been a while since you had to do that," Robin says offhandedly, finishing off his work. "So everyone else is out? We have no backup?" Artemis asks.

"We can handle ourselves," Robin says confidently. Daredevil snaps his fingers, getting their attention. "Ok. I remember the fastest way to the hanger. This way," Matt says, crawling in front of the two. Artemis leans against the wall. "They've got Superpowers. They should have been able to handle this themselves," she says. Robin looks at her, "DD's kinda got powers."

She scoffs at that. "What? Is he gonna hear them to death?" she asks, making Matt laugh. "Now that would be some power," he says.

Matt pushes the vent cover away and drops down to the library. He touches the floor and feels the reverberations through the ground. "Secret entrance is right over… there!" he yells out, speeding towards a bookshelf.

He and Dick start pulling back books, trying to find the trigger. "These all feel the same," Matt whines. Artemis stood at the edge of the shelf, bow, and arrow in hand. They hear the door to the library slide open and Artemis pulls her bowstring back a hair more. The boys start pulling books back faster, their movements more urgent now.

Artemis hears the sound of metal footsteps clanking against the metal floor of the library. A bulky silhouette appears behind the bookshelf, accompanied by a familiar voice. "Artemis," she hears a robotic voice say.

"It's Red Tornado," she says with relief, running towards the Justice League member. But when she sees the source of the voice her eyes widen in shock as a slightly more feminine shaped android its chest raised its hands. Artemis sees the fireball form in its hands and she closes her eyes but feels someone grab her. She gasps, feeling herself being thrown to the side as the fireball made its way towards the one who saved her.

Daredevil.

Matt gets hit directly in the chest by the miniature inferno and he is sent flying to the other side of the library. Artemis picks herself up and she began to make her way to Matt's location but Robin grabs her hand.

"There's nothing we can do. Come on!" he commands her, pulling her into the secret entrance that Matt opened a few seconds ago.

The putrid scent of the Nomex covering his armor filled his nostrils. Matt put his hand to his chest and felt that the material there had fused due to the heat. He tries to get up but a powerful, mechanical foot slowly forces him back to the ground.

He feels the breath slowly leave his lungs, as his ribs strain from the pressure. His hearing starts to fail him and all he can focus on his the sound of his armor, cracking beneath the might of the android.

* * *

"Son? Can you hear me?" a kind but authoritative voice asks. Matt's eyes slowly open and reaches his hand upward. "Dad?" he asks weekly.

A strong, steel-like grip clasps his arm. "Not quite," Superman says, gently helping Matt get back to his feet. Superboy was a few feet behind him, arms crossed but concern was written all across his face. "Kon-El. Take care of him," Superman says, flying away to help Flash free Wally. Superboy looked at M'gann who smiled at him, holding her uncle's hand.

Captain Marvel hovers over to Matt and hands the teenager a glass of orange juice which he hurriedly grabs. After gulping down the pulpy concoction he tilts his head towards Connor, who was waiting patiently for him to finish. "What happened?" he asks with a newly lubricated throat, wondering why he was in the hanger and why most of the Justice League were at the Cave.

Connor sighs. "It's a long story."

* * *

"So you just found me in the library?" Matt asks, changing into some new armor. Connor nods, "Yeah after the _Red's_ left the League came in and dad searched for you with his X-ray vision and carried you over here," he says. Matt noticed the malice in his voice when he referred to the androids.

Artemis fidgets with her bow and walks over to Matt. "Yeah. Hi. I'm… I'm sorry. That thing knocked you out because of me. I shouldn't have been that stupid," she says, rubbing her arms. Matt smiles, "There's nothing to forgive. Your arrow saved my ass. You did fine by my book," he says, remembering what Superboy said about her completing a jury-rigged EMP device with her arrow after Robin was knocked out.

Matt wraps his hands around her in a hug taking the archer aback. She hesitates at first but she awkwardly returns the gesture. "Thanks," she says, feeling weirdly at ease with him. 'Maybe, this is what a real family's like,' she thinks.

The two follow Connor to the Cave's lounge, where the rest of the team were. Wally was eating a bowl of pretzels which he stole from Green Arrow after bickering with him. Matt was about to join him but is stopped after a webbed hand touches his shoulder.

"Batman requests our presence," Aqualad says, making Matt groan in exasperation. He begrudgingly walks alongside Kaldur, composing himself before they reached Batman who was standing near the Zeta tubes.

The Dark Knight turns to face the two young heroes. "Aqualad informed me that the two of you uncovered sensitive information during your impromptu mission in Taipei," he says with a calm, penetrating voice. A voice that demands one's full attention.

"We got information from Sportsmaster that we might have a mole on our team," Daredevil states. Aqualad continues, "Considering today's events, it is likely that Red Tornado might be the traitor."

Matt nods in agreement, "But it's not clear if he betrayed us on purpose or if it was pre-programmed. We can't..." He stops speaking after hearing a loud heartbeat charging in his direction like a locomotive.

Daredevil leaps into the air, over Superboy's head, avoiding the clones grasp. He turns around to face Matt, almost snarling at him. "YOU KNEW? THAT ANDROID AND HIS MANIAC FAMILY NEARLY KILLED M'GANN," he says, shouting at Matt. Daredevil's hand hovered over a small compartment in his belt and was ready to fully open it. Aqualad could see a faint green light escaping it.

M'gann flys over to the scene. "Connor. What're you doing?" she asks, giving him a worried look. "Kaldur and Daredevil knew we had a traitor and they said nothing!" he shouts out.

"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Wally asks angrily. Matt glares at Connor's general direction, removing his hand from his belt. "Did you forget the bit where I said _Sportsmaster_ gave us that info? We didn't want to cause a divide amongst us so we kept it close to our chests in case he was lying," Matt says, with his arms out wide open.

Wally steps up. "How could you think any of us would betray the team? Why would - Wait a minute. For all we know you could be the traitor," he says pointing at Matt. "What?" he asks, not expecting that kind of accusation.

"Dude. We literally know nothing about you. We only kind of understand your powers since you use them during missions but other than that, zilch. We don't even know your real name. At least Robin's excuse is that Batman won't let him reveal his secret ID. But you never trusted us from the start," Wally said, putting his hands to his hips.

Connor sees how Matt's head wasn't even facing any of them and he gets angry. "At least look us in the eye when we talk to you," he demands, grabbing him by the collar. Matt crosses his arms and squints his eyes behind his helmet. "That's not… I - " he says, stuttering, unable to respond to them.

"Enough," Batman says sternly. His voice was soft yet firm and rich, echoing across the cave. Everyone straightened up and immediately turned to face him. He glares at the teenagers, which ensured that they would stay in line. Connor immediately lets go of Matt, no one wants to be one Batman's bad side. "With Red Tornado missing, the Team will now be overseen by rotating supervisors. Captain Marvel has volunteered to take the first shift," Batman says.

Captain Marvel is a young, muscular, black-haired Caucasian male with blue eyes. His costume is mostly red with gold accents like his thunderbolt logo, sash, and boots. He also has a white and gold cape over one shoulder. "I'm really looking forward to hanging with you guys," he says. The team cringes when they heard him talk. It was like hearing a teacher trying to be 'hip with the kids'.

Connor turns his head towards Matt and Kaldur. "After I dismantle Red Tornado, you and I are..."

"Red Tornado is a member of the Justice League. That makes him a League responsibility. You. Will. Leave him to us," he says. The Team knew that there was no arguing with him at this stage. Batman pulls up a few holographic displays. "I have another task for you."

Matt couldn't read the text but Robin whispered what the Newspaper headlines said for his benefit.

' **GORILLA TRADES BANANAS FOR BULLETS.** '

' **GOTHAM MAYOR ATTACKED BY GUERILLA GORILLA.** '

'Was this the only thing he could think of to keep us busy?' Connor asks M'gann via the psychic link, offended by the notion. Robin shared his teammate's sentiment. "Batman, please. You can't be sending us on this joke of a wild ape chase"

Batman starred intensely at his protege. "I never joke about the mission," he said with a more serious tone. Dick was used to Bruce talking down to him like that but it always made him recoil like a child.

"I've checked the sources. I've studied the patterns. Mayor Hill's encounter is only the latest in a series of incidents. Daredevil, you and your team will part for India and check this out," Batman continues. Matt nods in response.

Everyone walks past him and Wally brushes his shoulder. "Yeah. Your team," he says derisively. Matt's hands form a fist as he reigns in his frustration. 'What the hell do I do?' he thinks.

The sphere rolls behind Connor who tells him to go, not wanting him to be damaged any further. Wally and Dick walk side by side and see Captain Marvel fly towards the Bioship. "You're coming with?" Robin asks.

"Yeah. We'll have a blast," he says with excitement. Robin whispers to Wally, "Translation. They blame us for Red fiasco. They don't trust us." Matt walks behind the two of them and Kid Flash walks away, not wanting to even speak to him.

Matt tries to confront Wally but Dick stops him and shakes his head. "Not the time," he says, understanding his friend's position. Matt told him about the mole and Wally needed to know that. But emotions are running high and telling him that now would just add oil to the fire. Even Kaldur was staying silent. Anything he said could trigger the Team.

* * *

The bioship was cloaked, flying underneath a star-filled sky over the forests in the northern part of India. M'gann hovers it a dozen feet above ground and Daredevil rappels down to the jungle floor. He scours the area and gives her the all clear.

The bioship lands and the bay door opens. "Switch to camouflage mode," Matt says. Aqualad does as instructed, tapping his belt buckle, turning the red on his costume into a muted grey. M'gann morphs her white costume to black and Wally activates his own stealth mode.

"Alright. You know the drill. It's a stealth op. We need to make as little ruckus as possible, so here are the mission parameters," Matt says but Wally sniggers. "Parameters. Yeah, we don't need those. Like you said, we know the drill," he says, walking into the foliage. Robin whispers "Sorry," to Matt and follows the Speedster.

"Wally," Kaldur says making him turn around. "The four of us started this team since the League was keeping secrets from us. Or did you forget that?" he asks, putting his goggles on. Robin looks at him with an awkward expression. 'He is not going to be whelmed when he finds out,' he thinks, following him into the forest.

Superboy grabs M'gann by the arm. "Come on. I'll keep you safe," he says. She writhes out of his grip and gives him a grave look. 'You're my boyfriend. Not my keeper. Stop behaving like a character from a seventies sitcom,' she says via the personal psychic link.

"I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I just want to protect you," he says thinking that that's what he should do, being the son of Superman. Artemis walks in front of M'gann. "I don't think your protection or your patronizing is good for our health," she says, jabbing her boy into his shoulder. As the girls walk away, Artemis gives Matt a pained smile. He saved her life only a few hours ago. She refused to be angry at him over a bit of information her father gave him and Aqualad.

Matt noticed the muscles in her face moving a certain way and nods in her direction.

"Why didn't you stop them? You're supposed to be incharge," Connor asks Matt. He was about to say something but Superboy leaps away using his super strength. He was not in the mood for conversing right now.

Matt puts his hand to his head. "I'd rather be fighting undead ninjas," he mutters to himself. He hated the fact that his friends were splitting up both literally and metaphorically and the worst part was that he inadvertently started that divide.

"Did I miss the part where you actually said what the plan was?" Captain Marvel asks him planely, as if he was barely paying attention to what was happening. Matt rolls his eyes, "We can avoid the giant tiger in the bushes behind us for a start."

The older hero practically salivated when Matt said that. "Tiger? Where? Where? I always wanted to see one," he says. Matt slaps his own forehead and then grabs Captain Marvel by the collar. "There's no way I'm letting you wander off too," he says, practically dragging the champion of Shazam. Aqualad looks at the scene and finds some amusement but sees that Matt never looked straight at Captain Marvel.

He recalls what Superboy said about Daredevil looking him in the eye and wonders. 'What are you hiding?'

* * *

Matt crouched down and removes his armored gloves and instead, replacing them with rubber, disposable ones. He touched the ground after detecting something that resembled handprints on the floor via his radar sense. He put his hands inside the impression and found that it was like that of a human hand. Albeit quite a bit larger. He also discovered a few paw prints that likely belonged to the tiger he heard earlier

He removed a few fibres from the area and sniffed it a few feet away from his nose. "Gorilla hair and footprints. Plus tiger ones too. Two days old at most," he says, removing his disposable gloves and putting his normal ones back on.

"I suppose that confirms Mayor Hill's monkey business?" Captain Marvel asks Matt. He raises a fist, asking them to be quiet. Daredevil feels minute vibrations travelling through the ground. He can deduce that they must be natural and whatever was making them weighed well over seven tonnes.

"Guys. We might want to move," he says, hearing something barreling through the forest, destroying multiple trees in its wake. The noise was now audible to all three heroes. The ground was quaking in its wake, rocks were bouncing off of the ground with every step. Aqualad and Captain Marvel couldn't track it's movements, the noise bounced around the woods but Matt knew exactly where it was.

"Elephant. Hopped up on Kobra-Venom. On your six," Matt says, warning his comrades. Kaldur and the Captain turn around and see the tusker in question. It was over fifteen feet tall, with four tusks instead of two. It had bloodshot eyes and brown skin that was cracked and blistered, revealing the flesh underneath.

Captain Marvel acted immediately. He flew straight for the creatures head and pushed it several feet back, clearly hurting it. But the elephant used it's mighty trunk to coil itself around the hero and it threw him into a tree, splitting it in half, surprising the Captain with it's unnatural strength.

Another elephant, slightly bigger and grey emerges from the woods. "That was probably why the footsteps echoed so much," Matt says, annoyed that he was too distracted to spot two giant elephants nearby.

Matt draws his Billy clubs and Aqualad forms two swords with his water bearers. An electrical whir, situated near the elephant's neck entered Matt's ears. He recognized the sound and a smile forms on his face.

"Look at their necks," Matt tells Aqualad. The Atlantean looks up and sees what Daredevil had spotted. Metahuman power dampening collars. The two elephants charge and they roll out of their way. Kaldur raises his bearers and forms a pair of whips. Matt distracts the other elephant, keeping it away while Aqualad did his job.

Kaldur leaps onto the elephants knee and uses his whips to wrap around the collar. He yells out as he applies all his strength and pulls the collar off of the behemoths neck. Aqualad stares into its eyes. It's once hostile gaze turned into one of confusion.

The elephant walks away from the area. Not wanting to strain itself unnecessarily.

Matt was leaping around like a circus flea, trying to avoid being crushed by the second elephant. The activity was keeping him on the edge, allowing adrenaline to pump into his body. He finally felt alive for the first time since the cave. But his elation did not last long as he hears sparks fly from the elephants collar.

"Captain. Take out the collar," Matt says, gesturing to the giant that was trying to kill him. He narrowly avoids being grabbed by it's trunk and falls to the ground. "Anytime now. Not like I'm in a hurry," he said snidely, spitting dirt out of his mouth.

"On it," Captain Marvel says, flying beneath the animal. He sees the collar and with one precise punch, destroys a part of it, allowing it to fall. Leaving the enhanced elephant unharmed. Both elephants leave with each other away from the battle field. Aqualad helps Daredevil get up and Captain Marvel lands behind them.

"Pretty sweet move there, figuring out it was the collars," he says, complementing the younger hero. Aqualad has a puzzled look on his face. "But the collars indicate a higher intelligence at play." Matt nods, "Yeah. A well funded and patient intelligence. I doubt that we're the only ones in danger. Team, report?" he asks over the comms but he rubs his ears when he hears the static that accompanied his message.

Captain Marvel notices the frustration in Matt's voice. "Comm's are jammed. Should have felt that. Radio waves are way more intense than normal. And Miss M forgot to set up a psychic link before she left," Matt says, biting his lip.

"Actually, you let everyone split up before communications were set," Captain Marvel says. Matt spreads his arms out, "They're pissed off at me and Kaldur. They wouldn't listen," he says.

"Maybe. But back at the cave, Batman stopped everyone from arguing with one word," the Captain says. Matt turns away from him, "I'm not Batman."

Captain Marvel looks up and smiles. "You don't have to tell me. When I first joined the League all he did was boss me around and it's hard not to take it personally. But I never disobeyed an order and that's probably what's kept me alive."

Matt twists his head, "Batman takes command. He never cares what you think about him, he just does what needs to be done. I gotta admit, you make a valid point," he says, thanking Captain Marvel. The older hero puts his hands to his hips. "Hey, Wisdom of Solomon. By the way, you need to work on that eye contact thing. Makes you look really nervous when you avoid it."

Daredevil was about to answer back but stops when he hears Captain Marvel shriek like a five year old girl. "Tiger!" he says excitedly, spotting the creature in the woods. He flies after it and Matt sighs. "Hey, speed of Mercury," Kaldur says, mimicking the hero, making Matt laugh.

Aqualad looks at Daredevil. "You are many things my friend. But shy is not one of them. Why is it that you almost always seem to avoid looking directly at people. I never noticed how frequently you did that till today," he asks kindly.

Matt sits on a log and lets out a breath he did not even know he was holding in. "I can't." Aqualad looks at him with some confusion. "Can't? Or won't? I do not understand."

"Kaldur, I literally can't. I can't see anything. Haven't for a long time now," Matt says quickly, wanting to get this conversation over and done with as soon as possible. An epiphany hits Aqualad like a tonne of bricks. "You mean to say that you're… "

Daredevil nods. "Yeah."

Kaldur sits next to Matt. "Does anyone else know?" Matt nods again, "Robin and Batman found out last year when I first met them. Elektra and a friend of mine in New York know as well but yeah," he says, omitting Kato and Ra's al Ghul from that list. Not like those two would do anything with that information.

"I understand your reluctance to tell the Team about this. It is quite a… sensitive matter. But I think that you should be upfront about yourself. You need to tell them," Aqualad says, making Matt smile derisively.

"I don't want them to question my skills just cus I'm blind."

"They are questioning both of us for keeping secrets. They will understand if you tell them. I am sure Robin will support you when you feel ready. As will I, Matthew," Kaldur says, remembering Elektra saying his name.

Daredevil smiles, "Matt. Call me Matt."

"Very well, Matt. I've one more question. When Superboy attacked you, you reached for the back of your belt and a green light emerged from it. What was that?" Kaldur asks him. Matt pauses for a second to word his answer.

"Let's just say it's insurance."

The two sit in silence for a while till a familiar buzz enters their heads. 'Daredevil, Aqualad. Do you read me?' M'gann asks them telepathically. 'Artemis and I were attacked by animals wearing collars like the ones used in belle reve prison,' she says over the link.

'Miss M. Link us up with the entire team. Now,' Matt thinks. M'gann places her fingers on her temple and her eyes blow a bright green. 'Link established,' she says telepathically.

Artemis was pouring water out of her quiver after she almost got drowned by a crocodile. 'No offense but should you really be giving orders now. No one seems to want to listen to you anyway,' the archer thought.

'Guys,' Matt thinks and Wally scratches his head, trying to get a few ticks out. "Daredevil's voice in my head. Just what I needed," he tells Robin sarcastically. 'DD, me and KF were attacked by some supersized vultures,' Robin thinks over the link, ignoring Kid Flash's comment.

M'gann probes her mind further. 'Superboy. Are you online?' she asks.

Connor was struggling to fight the large, enhanced white wolf that was currently trying to chew on his jugular. 'Busy. Call back later,' he thinks calmly whilst simultaneously shouting his lungs out after the wolf tosses him violently into a large boulder.

Kaldur and Matt walk further into the forest to try and find Captain Marvel whilst everyone else on the link started to argue. They spot four pylons, forming the corners of a square, driven into the ground. "Taste that? Ionic residue in the air. Some sort of electromagnetic barrier," Matt says, opening his mouth a bit too wide for Kaldur's taste.

Matt touches the ground and his fingers brush up against impressions in the ground. The paw prints of a tiger and the footprints of a man Captain Marvel's size.

The arguing over the link continues and Matt grabs his head. The last time he heard so many uncontrollable voices in his head was before he started to train his senses with Kato. And that's the last thing he wanted to remember right now.

'Everyone. Shut the hell up!' Matt shouts over the link, kicking a pylon in anger, the force denting it in the process. 'Captain Marvel's been captured and right now we're the only ones that can save him. And before your start whining, every single one of you here has secrets. I'm privy to a few of them but I will be more open with my own after the mission is done. I'll even step down as leader if you guys want but until then, I am still your commander and the more time we waste arguing amongst ourselves, the higher the chance that Marvel's dead. So listen to my orders and we will get him out alive. End of discussion.' He says, stunning the Team by his finality.

Matt walks away and Kaldur stands by his side. "I see no one better to follow into combat," he tells Daredevil. "Funny. Neither can I," he says in return with a smirk.

* * *

The owls start cooing in the night as they hear something move quickly in the shrubbery. Wally and Robin are crouching on the ground, near the roots of a few trees. The former puts on his goggles and the latter uses his binoculars. Artemis and Kaldur have made vantage points on a nearby hill whilst Matt and M'gann, cloaked of course were perched on a tall tree. The six of them had their sights on the location where Captain Marvel was being kept.

Robin tracked the place down via the various animal tracks and the others followed him. Matt scans the dilapidated building with his senses. 'There are tunnels. Miles of them, running underneath the ground and they all lead here. Kid, what's that energy covering the compound?' he asks over the link, unable to identify the specific kind of energy being emitted by the pylons surrounding the building.

Wally checks the properties of the dome with his goggles. 'Plasmic discharge. That'll fry the nervous system of anything that walks through it.' Robin analyses it via his computer. 'Pylons are insulated. But one big shock could cause a momentary gap.'

Artemis sees something in the distance and draws her bow. 'I see a target,' she says over the link, eyeing a small panel near one of the buildings doors. Aqualad. I'll need you to provide the shock. Artemis, be ready to fire when the dome fluctuates. All of you be ready,' Matt thinks.

Aqualad slides down the hill and runs towards the pylons. His tattoos glow blue and a current runs through them. He places his hands on the shield and a bright light, similar to a welding torch started to be emitted from that location. Kid Flash was monitoring the dome's status with his goggles.

'Almost there. Wally, Artemis be ready,' Matt thinks.

Wally sees a hole form where Aqualad was generating his lighting and he yells, 'Now,' over the link. Artemis fires her arrow, and it flies through the new opening and it makes an impact with the button on the panel, shutting down the pylons.

Aqualad stops generating power and he waves his hand, telling them to come down. Matt tilts his head as he hears new heartbeats emerge from the jungle around them. 'Guys. We've got monkeys trying to surround us. Aim for the collars and try not to hurt them too much,' Matt thinks on the link.

Alarms start to blare and the enhanced baboons attack the Team. They engage in combat with the primates whilst a camera records their activities.

Aqualad pins a monkey down and uses his strength to break the collar in half. "Remember to remove the collars," he shouts out loud. "Easy for him to say," Robin says with a strained voice as he struggled to prevent two monkeys from scratching his eyes out.

Artemis stabs one monkey in the collar with an arrow. She pulls another one out and fires two simultaneously at the monkey's pinning Robin down, hitting them in the collar. Robin throws two disks in Artemis' direction, hitting two monkeys that tried to sneak up behind her.

'Ok. We have a gorilla holding what sounds like a mini-gun near that metal door,' Matt says over the link, hitting a few collars with his Billy clubs. 'There's no way a gorilla could be intelligent enough to do that,' Wally thought.

In that moment a Gorilla wearing a red beret, with ammunition belts around his torso, holding a large, silver mini-gun walked out of the building. Kid Flash stares at the animal with a look of awe, 'That… is so cool,' he thinks over the link.

The gorilla sniffs the air and detects somebody nearby. He turns around and grabs a cloaked Miss Martian by the arm and picks her up. Only to slam her into the ground, knocking her unconscious. He pulls the trigger on his minigun, allowing the barrel to start spinning.

"Get your stinking paws of her you damn dirty ape," Wally says running at super speed into the apes chest. But the creature has enhanced strength and it tenses its body, making the speedster bounce off of him, sending him spiralling into the ground.

Matt notices that the ape does not have a collar like the other animals. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

"You are not taking my brain," Captain Marvel says for the third time tonight. A brain, that is housed by a trash can shaped robot has been preparing him for surgery so that it may extract his brain. He was rendered immobile somehow and was restrained by metal rings on a surgical bed.

The villainous brain has a very stereotypical synthesised French accent for whatever reason. It was moments like this that made Billy wonder if the wizard Shazam was playing some mind trick on him for all this time.

It lowers a probe down towards Captain Marvel's forehead and he gives the surgeon a bored look. "That thing won't work on me," he says. The brain uses its skinny mechanical arms to shrug. "Perhaps. But there is no harm in trying. I am told that you've the courage of Achilles, non. Perhaps, you should have asked for his durability instead," the brain says.

The two hear the collared tiger growling and the animal lunges at the brain, knocking him to the ground. It gets back up, "Traitor. You will suffer for that," it says, activating the collar. The tiger winces and cries in pain as the collar starts to electrocute it, making it wriggle along the floor like a dying worm.

"Stop it," Captain Marvel pleaded. Ignoring the hero the brain moved a few feet forward after seeing something alarming on the security footage. The wall behind him disintegrates as the gorilla is thrown through it.

Miss Martian hovers down below to see her handy work. The rest of the Team come in behind her. While the gorilla was knocking away the cobwebs from it head, the teenagers noticed the elephant in the room.

"It's the brain," Wally says dramatically. Artemis gives him a patronizing look, "Duh, I can see its a brain." Kid Flash shakes his head. "No. Not a brain. The brain." Matt perceives it's outline. "So we're fighting a French Dalek?" he asks. Wally shakes his head, "More like a French R2D2."

"In the flesh. So to speak," it says. It then spoke to the gorilla which nodded, removing a remote control from its pockets. It presses a button and pylons erupt from the ground and surround the heroes.

'Miss M. The remote. SB, be ready to strike,' Matt thinks. The gorilla grunts in shock as the device floats away from its hand. Miss Martian hovers the device over her head and she presses the off button with her telekinesis. Another wall burst open and when the dust settled, Superboy walks in with a large, white wolf by his side.

The canine knocks the gorilla to the ground but it kicks him off. Wally runs at him and kicks him in the face, running away when it fires at him. Dick uses his grapple to swing into it and Matt trips it up using the line from his Billy club.

Superboy leaps towards the gorilla but the primate steps back, shooting dozens of rounds into the Kryptonian only but that only slightly pushes him back. Artemis and Robin use their projectiles to target it's gun and ammo, strapped to its back.

Aqualad was busy fighting the brain, who was shooting lasers at him. Kaldur blocked the assault by forming shields with his bearers. Matt made his way to Captain Marvel and he uses his Billy club to destroy the collar around the thunderers neck.

He thanks Daredevil and removes the collar from the tiger. The Gorilla steps back and sees that he is being surrounded along with his master and he roars into the air. Connor slams his fists together, "Try it. I hate monkeys," he says menacingly.

"Non. This will not be out waterloo," the brain says. Many small projections protrude from it's bin like body. They glow a bright red and to the average eye, one might say it was preparing to destroy itself. Wally goes to the ground when he sees this. "Everyone, get down."

Everyone prepares by either drawing their weapons or getting into a combat position. A high pitched whirring is produced by the brain and the Team brace for impact.

But, underwhelmingly all that happened was that the lights in the building started to switch off. Matt throws his Billy club at the brain but he falls down a hatch into one of the tunnels he talked about earlier along with the gorilla and they make their way via pod beneath the ground. Travelling faster that even Kid Flash could run.

The lights turn back on, courtesy of Robin and Wally yells out, "Really? All that for a light switch?"

* * *

The Team were walking back to the ship. Wally picked up the gorillas red beret and was wearing it the entire journey there. A fact that irked Artemis. "Why are you wearing that?" Wally tapped his head, "One word. Souvenir."

Artemis looks in front of her and walks away, "Two words. Gorilla lice." Wally takes of the hat and sticks his tongue out in disgust.

Captain Marvel asked the tiger to summon any remaining animals with collars around their necks. Luckily the only ones left were a couple of monkeys and a massive crocodile, which Artemis steered clear from. "Now are you sure that, that was the last of the collars?" he asks the tiger.

The feline made an incoherent growl which Matt assumed was a yes. "And I can count on you to keep the other animals out of trouble?" Captain Marvel asks nicely. The tiger rumbles its throat in response. He pets the tiger behind the ears and scratches its neck. "I'll be back here for a visit. I promise." The tiger roars and runs into the jungle. His home. Where he belongs.

Connor was playfully grabbing the wolf's head and nuzzled against his snout. "The rest of the pack's gone. Why are you still here?" he asks him jovially. "I think he likes you," M'gann says.

He turns around, "Can I keep him?" he asks childishly. Wally walks up to them while eating a banana. "First the sphere now him? Dude, you make a habit of adopting strays," he says with a smile.

"Maybe because he's such a stray," she says. 'M'gann. I'm sorry, I was just worried,' he tells her mentally. 'That's sweet Connor. But on a mission, I'm your teammate. Not your girlfriend. Agreed?' she asks him telepathically. He smiles, 'Yeah.'

"He's gonna need a name. How about Krypto," Wally says, unaware of the entire conversation they just had in their heads. The canine growls when he hears that name. "Pass," Connor says.

Kaldur and Matt walk towards Dick who was waiting near the bay doors for the bioship. "So. You gonna tell them?" Robin asks Matt. The rest of the Team surrounds the three, waiting expectantly.

"Tell us what?" Artemis asks. Matt could feel his heart racing faster by the second. He gulps down hard and takes in a few deep breaths. Kaldur and Dick put their hands on his shoulders and he smiles at them.

'They're my friends. It's safe to tell them,' he thinks. "Uh, Cap. You mind staying in the bioship?" he asks. He gives the teenager a fake salute, "Say no more pal," he says, walking into the living ship.

Matt fiddles with his fingers, not sure how to start this sentence. "I didn't tell you about the mole stuff since we got that intel from Sportsmaster. But the reason I was so reluctant to talk about myself and even get close enough to you guys to share my name was because I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" M'gann asks.

"Afraid that you guys wouldn't accept me if you found out about… certain things. Afraid that you might treat me differently. But I'm tired of keeping secrets from you guys. Time I faced the truth," he says, lowering his head so that he can remove his helmet.

Matt raises his head so that his friends could see his glazed eyes. "Hi. My name's Matt Murdock and I've been blind since I was seven," he says, puckering his lips as he explained the basics of his origin story. Waiting for any backlash.

But much to his amazement, the rest of the team were completely silent. Far too shocked to even say anything. "So let me get this straight. You've been fighting robots. Battling ninja and leading a team of superheroes. All while you couldn't even see?" Artemis asks slowly, unable to believe what she was saying.

"Yeah. I guess," Matt says. This was not the response he was expecting. "Wow. That's just… wow," Artemis added.

"That explains why your mind feels so odd. I couldn't visualise most of your memories back in Bialya. But now it all makes so much sense," M'gann says happy to finally understand Matt a bit more.

Connor stares at him cross armed. "So when I asked you to look at me when you talked. That was literally impossible. God, I am a colossal asshole," he says, slapping his forehead. Matt shrugs, "You had no clue. Not your fault."

"Three questions. How do your powers even work? How many fingers am I holding up and can I just say that I am so, so, so sorry about earlier?" Wally blurts out at high speed. But Matt nods and answers the questions in order. "All my other sense are enhanced so I form a mental image in my head to understand all the sensory input, which kind of feels like a world on fire. You're holding up the gorilla's hat you moron, not a finger and no. You don't have to apologize. I should have told you all way earlier," he says smiling at the speedster.

Matt starts to laugh as the speedster lowers the beret. He was expecting at least one person to make fun of him but instead, they all supported him. He feels like a massive weight has been lifted off of his chest. They come towards him and Wally couldn't help but stare into his eyes, to see if actually was blind. "I know you're staring man," he tells him without even looking in Wally's direction which made the speedster turn around awkwardly.

Artemis jabs Wally in the ribs and lightly punches Matt in the shoulder. "Don't expect me to go easy on you when we spar now," she says. "I hope not. Otherwise, you'd never land a single shot," Matt says which prompted her to hit him slightly harder. The two share a smile and she walks on to the ship, only to find Captain Marvel sleeping in one of the seats, a pair of headphones over his ears.

"I would love to explore your mind some more. With your permission obviously. It would be such an interesting experience," M'gann says with excitement, holding Matt's hands. Martians like to explore minds like a human likes to travel the country. "I'll think about it," he says kindly.

Connor had no words to say. He patted Matt on the shoulder and took the newly christened Wolf into the ship.

"See. That wasn't that hard," Robin says with a wide smile. "Even if it was. You showed great courage today," Kaldur says, shaking Matt's hand. "This team has it's rightful leader," he says, walking into the ship.

Robin's smile never fades even when he was about to enter the bioship. "Well, that is till I take your spot," he tells Matt facetiously, making the older boy push him inside.

Wally sheepishly faces Matt. "I was a jerk today. If I knew about… you know. I never would have - " Matt stops him from speaking further.

"That's all behind us now. Water under the bridge," Matt says, placing his hand on the speedsters shoulder. "But if you're nicer to me because of the blind thing I will stab you in the leg. We clear?" he whispers in a faux-threatening tone. Kid Flash nods.

The two keep talking till they take their seats in the ship.

Robin swivels his chair and playfully looks at Matt, who put his helmet back on. "So, how did Elektra take it when she found out?" he asks suggestively. Dick's tone of voice caught Wally's attention. "Who's Elektra. She hot?" he asks Matt.

Daredevil slowly turns his chair around and glares deep into Wally's soul, making him sweat on the spot. "Never mind," he says turning away from Matt. 'Blind or not. He's still scary,' he thinks in his head.

'You know the psychic link's still on right?' Artemis asks him mentally, making Wally groan in embarrassment and everyone else started to laugh at his expense.

* * *

 **I combined two episodes into one chapter since in Home Front, there wasn't much for Matt to do.**

 **This felt like it was an organic episode to tell the team that Matt was blind. I hope I handled the reveal well since I doubt the team would react negatively to news like that, seeing as though they accepted Artemis' heritage rather easily.**

 **Thanks for the follows, favourites and the reviews. All the feedback you guys give me is great. Either giving me ideas for the story or just motivating the hell out of me. So thanks.**

 **Next episode, the Team fight some injustice.**

 **Hope I PM'd the guys that the website allows me to. I can't remember half the time. Now to respond to the people I can't PM**

 **Comments** **:**

 **TheKike** **: Spanish please, is great**

 **Me** **: Ok. Not sure what that means but ok. Thanks for reading the story mate :)**

 **See you guys next time.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Revelation** :

 **The Cave, Happy Harbor, October 1st, 2010:**

Kaldur prided himself for being able to keep calm in tense situations. To be able to see all possible solutions to a given problem and then solve it as efficiently as possible.

But at this moment all he felt was frustration and an unhealthy amount of embarrassment. For the past fifteen minutes, he and Robin were sparring with Matt, trying their best to land a punch, a kick. Any attack on their leader.

But so far he seemed to be evading their combined assault like a skilled politician might an incriminating question. Aqualad was accustomed to that by this point. But it was his expression that always irked Kaldur.

Matt had a snide smile appear on his face wherever he dodged an attack. A facial expression that Dick was all too familiar with.

Robin flips forward, performing a quadruple somersault towards Matt in an attempt to deliver a powerful kick. But the blind fighter simply rolls under his young friend and swipes him off of his feet when Dick lands, making the acrobat land with an unceremonious thud.

Kaldur sees more points being awarded to Daredevil by the simulation. He observes that his back is turned to him and his instincts kick in. He rushes toward Matt at full throttle, hoping to take him by surprise.

The Atlantean extends his left arm, his hand balled into a fist and aims it toward the back of Matt's neck. But, without even turning, the blind teenager grabs Kaldur's fist. The sound of skin grinding against skin filled the training grid.

Matt grabs the stunned Atlantean by the collar and throws him over his head. Kaldur gasps as he flies straight into Robin's chest - who had just gotten back up - knocking the wind out of both of them. The two land outside of the ring, groaning in pain and the holographic display they spared in shuts down.

"Rob. You can't rely on your agility if your attacks are gonna be that easy to predict. Kaldur, punches are powered by the hips, not the arms. I don't care how much stronger you are. With form that bad, nearly anyone can exploit you," Matt says, helping the two get back on their feet.

Kaldur smiles when he hears his feedback. Despite his frustrations, he was always willing to learn from his mistakes. "Was there anything else you found lacking?" He asks humbly.

"Yeah. You tried to sneak up on a guy with no blind spot. Bad move," Dick says cheekily, nudging Kaldur in the ribs. He remembers how often he tried to attack Matt from behind only for him to slap him silly immediately after.

Matt lightly taps him on the head for that layered comment and the three notice Superboy and Miss Martian entering the main hall together. Robin leans in to whisper to the two. "You know they're a couple right?"

Kaldur raises a knowing brow. "I believe I knew before they did," he whispers back.

"They were kissing in her room for the past ten minutes. It was really distracting," Matt says, listening to their footsteps. He hears Wolf's paws and the spheres metal scraping against the floor as they followed the two aliens.

A few seconds later Wally and Artemis walk in together. "Those two are practically made for each other," Matt says. He could feel their temperatures rising whenever they looked at each other.

"Think we should tell them?" Robin asks rhetorically.

"I do not believe that is our place," Kaldur says with a serious tone. Matt sighs, his friend's inability to understand some of the surface world's verbal quirks was humorous at times.

"Though, I'm not sure how I feel about Captain Slow and Zatara babysitting us. I mean, the Captain's like a big baby," Matt says, pointing to the two without turning in their direction.

Robin nods, "He's so immature. I'm pretty sure he told Connor and Megan to stay away from each other to stop them from catching cooties," he says, scrunching his face as he recollects the event. Kaldur lets out a small chuckle after hearing that. He has seen enough surface television to know what "cooties" were.

"It's not that. I meant that his body produces virtually no testosterone at all. It's like standing next to an overgrown ten-year-old," Matt says. He gives Captain Marvel a forced smile to throw him off of the fact that they were talking about him behind his back. Kaldur and Dick weren't sure whether to be concerned for Marvel's lack of hormones or for Matt's complete lack of personal boundaries

Noticing his friends awkwardness Matt spreads his arms. "I can't help it," he says. He had to perceive the world somehow and that was one way he identified people.

Luckily the silence in the air was cut short by the sound of the zeta tubes activating. Batman enters the cave and immediately walks towards its centre.

He pulls up some holographic displays of the national news, showing large, building-sized plants enveloping metropolis.

The reporter, Kat Grant was delivering the news. " _The initial attack was short lived. However, Metropolis was only granted a short reprieve. And despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice League, there seems to be no end in sight,_ " she says over footage of Superman and various other heroes battling the monstrous plants and saving multiple civilians.

Kaldur and Wally were giving Matt visual descriptions of what was happening on screen. Though Wally's eloquent way with words, spouting gems such as, "Superman went woosh," left much to be desired.

The report ends and Robin steps forward. "Should we get out there?" he asks Batman.

"No. The League will soon have the situation under control. But that's not why I'm here. According to your intel, Sportsmaster was supplying Cadmus BlockBuster formula to Kobra," the Dark Knight says.

"Who combined it with Bane's venom to create Kobra-Venom," Wally says.

"Which The Brain used to build his animal army," Robin added.

Connor was stroking Wolf underneath his jaw, making the canine somewhat docile. "And it upgraded Wolf," he says.

"The Brain also used inhibitor collars. Like the ones in Belle Reve Penitentiary," M'gann says.

Artemis looks towards Batman. "Is it possible that plant-thingy is on Kobra-Venom too?" she asks, disgusted by the idea of having to fight them.

"I had Green Lantern run a spot analysis. The vines chlorophyll do contain a Kobra-Venom variant," Batman says, displaying the chemical composition of the modified drug to the team. Though Wally was the only one who could understand it.

Matt crosses his arms. "There's no way these are all coincidences," he says.

"I agree. Unrelated criminals are co-operating on a worldwide scale," Kalur says. Dick opens a holographic keyboard and starts tapping away.

Batman gives the teenagers a serious look. "It is now clear that our enemies some kind of… secret society of super-villains," he says, choosing his words carefully. "The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning."

Dick pulls up footage of the plants erupting in other nations. "You got that right. Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, New York, STAR City and Taipei," he says. But the moment he finishes his sentence the screens become filled with static.

"Dude?" Wally asks. Dick grumbles, "It's not me. Someone's interfering with the satellite signal. All satellite signals."

A few seconds later a person fills up the width of the screen. His face was responsible for causing nightmares to grown men and women. A man who has single-handedly filled entire graveyards with his killing sprees. A man who has given Batman and Robin an endless number of sleepless nights.

"Joker," Batman says with vitriol, forming a tight fist behind his cape. Matt never heard Bruce speak with so much emotion before. Though he's felt the same anger whenever he had to interact with Bullseye. And if the files he has read were any indication, The Joker was just as dangerous. If not more so.

The clown prince of crime tapped the camera and had an unsettling smile plastered across his face. "Ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt your usually scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement," he says with a voice Matt was not expecting to hear.

He sounded like a children's TV show host mixed with a British stand-up comedian. Matt assumed that The Joker would have a duller, more menacing voice. Nothing as theatrical as this.

The clown grabs the camera and pans it to the side to reveal a group of villains standing together. "An announcement from the _Injustice League_ ," he finishes among a fit of laughs.

The camera zooms in on the man in the middle. He was Caucasian with blue eyes, white, slicked-back hair and a widow's peak hairline. He wears a lime blazer on top of a brown waistcoat and a dark green ascot with a golden brooch. He also dons a dark green cape and matching pants and gloves. He speaks with a thick but elegant eastern European accent.

"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion US dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit. But, the longer your governments wait..." the Eastern European man says.

"The longer we get to have some fun," The Joker finishes, turning the camera back towards him. He starts giggling, then a small laugh emerges and finally a throaty war call like noise exits his throat that sent chills down Matt's spine.

Batman receives a message from his cowl and he puts a finger to his ear to hear it. "Roger that Aquaman. The ransom will be prepared by the UN as a fallback. But it will not come to that," he says, turning towards The Team.

Robin reverses the footage to see all the villains in that line-up. He deploys some face-tracking software to double check.

"Count Vertigo, The Joker, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite, Wotan, Black Adam. That's seven heavy hitters. Probably behind everything and everyone that we faced so far," he says with a sense of alarm.

"There's your secret society," Wally says.

"Not so secret anymore," Artemis adds.

Kaldur considers what she had just said for a moment. "Perhaps after India, they realised we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer."

Wally pumps his fist in the air. "Oh yeah. Well, that was their mistake. Right now I say we kick some plant creature butt," he says enthusiastically.

"Something doesn't add up. Most of those guys don't care about money. Why would they get together and do all of that stuff just to demand a ransom?" Matt asks.

Batman jumps in. "A question to be answered on a later date. But the Justice League will handle the vines. I have a different job for this team."

Wally's face sinks when he hears that. "Oh man," he whines. Which prompted Artemis to hit him on the shoulder, making the Speedster rub it in pain.

"With the plants attacking several locations simultaneously, there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it," Batman says, ignoring the two teenagers exchanging annoyed glances at each other.

Zatara approaches Bruce. "You do realise what you are asking of them?"

"They're ready," he tells the sorcerer.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Wally asks. Artemis gives out an annoyed grunt and punches him in the shoulder again. "Will you cut that out?" he shouts at her.

Artemis tilts her head and squints her eyes. 'How can someone so fast be so freaking slow,' she thinks. "Hello, Wally. If the League are fighting plants, who do you think _we'll_ be fighting?" she asks him slowly. Like one would a small, dimwitted child.

He gives her a confused expression and shrugs his shoulders. Irritated with their banter Matt grabs Wally by the head and turns it so as to face the screen. The speedster sees the frozen image of the Injustice League and the gears in his head start to turn.

"Oh. Right," he says, blushing slightly.

Zatara and Batman turn towards each other. "Batman. I trust you are correct."

"I trust that you can locate the enemy," Bruce responds.

The Sorcerer nods. "Indeed. Wotan's involvement indicates that sorcery is part of how the plants are controlled. Robin, if you could provide a holomap," he asks the Boy Wonder kindly.

Robin nods and pulls up a holographic display of the globe. "I will search for signs of concentrated magical activity. This map will help me with visualisation," he says, extending his arms and flourishing his wand.

"Etacol retnecipe fo yrecros!" he yells out, his words echoing when he speaks. The globe stops spinning and a small marker appears on the map. "There. That is where you will find the Injustice Leagues central control system," Zatara says.

Robin downloads the information. "Co-ordinates locked in. The Louisiana Biome in Central America," he says.

"Alright. Team, suit up. Meet me at the hanger in ten. Aqualad, get the thing," he instructs them. The Atlantean nods and they run towards the changing rooms.

"Where're you going?" Robin asks Matt.

He smiles. "I'm gonna need something more than my Billy clubs to fight those guys. I'll pick up a few things in New York. Won't take a minute," he tells Dick.

The Team go to their respective locations and Captain Marvel starts to head towards the hanger. But Batman stops him.

"Captain Marvel. For this plan to work, the entire League must be seen fighting the plants. You, Zatara and I are needed elsewhere," he says.

* * *

The Joker laughs maniacally at the sight of firefighters succumbing to Joker venom emitted from the plants, viewing it on one of the multiple screens. The men and women inhale the gas and start to cough vigorously. But the coughs rapidly shifted to laughs. And the intensity of the laughter was clogging up their throats, suffocating them in the process. When they fell, they all had a permanent smile, etched on their face.

The image filled The Joker with more joy than he could express. He was contorting his fingers like a puppeteer, his hands covered with specialised gloves that allow him to interface with the plants on a worldwide scale.

"Kobra-Venom has got nothing on good ol' fashioned Joker venom," he says smugly, watching and manipulating the plants to suit the Justice League members that they were facing.

"Both work well in concert," Count Vertigo says, admiring his colleague's ability to multitask.

Poison Ivy looks at the dying roots of the primary plant that was controlling the rest of its brethren and strokes it gently, bringing back some of its former green shade. The villains and the plant were situated in a large dome that was once used as a greenhouse. It seemed to be the perfect location for their little enterprise.

"We're putting considerable strain on my baby," she says, comforting the giant plant further. Ultra-Humanite stumbles forward, carrying a handheld device. The white ape takes a few measurements and calculates how much power the plant needs to sustain itself and the others across the globe.

After typing in a few numbers a pulse is sent through the creature and Woton hovers in the air, uttering a spell that reverberates throughout the lair. His magic sustains the pulse inside the plant, making sure it was ready for the next stage.

"We will keep her safe Ivy. Skull, it requires more power," he says to both teammates.

Atomic Skull walks towards a metal platform that one could tell was once pristine but now it was stained by scorch marks. But it still served its purpose. The villain grabs two metal rods that protruded from the platform and he closes his eyes. His body starts to glow a bright green and the emaciated villain sends a beam of radiation passing through the machine.

Woton's magic and Ultra-Humanities machine provided new life to the plant, causing it to sprout even higher, it's height surpassing that of the roof of the dome itself. The plant, which acted as an antenna, boosted the signal to all the plants that Joker was controlling. New branches and leaves take shape and a content look appears on Ivy's face.

"Stunning what a little teamwork can accomplish," The Count says, feeling a sense of satisfaction from stealing from the heroes playbook of forming powerful alliances. His attention gets diverted by the sound of the alarm blaring. "Intruder alert," he says.

* * *

"And that's the motion sensors tripped. They'll attack in any minute," Matt says, feeling the shift of radio waves in the air. He keeps the items he acquired from his trip to New York safely on his lap, feeling the need to check them every other second.

He picks up the first item from the pair. The sound of metal running smoothly along the leather insides of the black scabbard filled his ears. He inspects the Katana, running his fingers along the three magical kanji runes once more. 'Burn. Bleed. Cut. Yeah, real descriptive there,' he thinks sarcastically.

He puts the sword back in and unsheathes the second sword from a red scabbard. Its hilt was without decoration and was a plane crimson. It had no magical inscriptions or anything that made it extraordinary except for the construction of the blade itself. The sharp edge was forged on the opposite side than normal, making it a sword ill-fit for killing.

A reverse-bladed sword.

He remembers the circumstances under which he received these weapons. How he and Elektra saved the black sky. How Kato told him that he needed to keep the Team safe, though he wasn't sure how he knew about them or why he even cares. He strokes both their hilts, the protective fibres were fresh and tight, never having been used in combat. He does the same with his Billy clubs. In contrast with the swords, both were worn and marred with scratches. The paint was now a faded shade of red. 'Respect and understand the tools of your trade.' He thinks.

Though Matt wasn't the only one taking stock of what they had. Every member of the team with weapons was checking up on them. Feeling their weight. Keeping their minds fresh and ready for the battle up ahead. Artemis with her arrows, Kaldur with his water bearers and Dick with an entire arsenal in his belt. They were all mentally preparing themselves for the task at hand.

Feeling left out, with only a half-eaten banana in his hand, Wally asks Matt a question he had been holding in for a few moments. "Why'd you bring those here? I kinda doubt that we're gonna beat the Injustice League with a couple of swords."

"They'll be useful. Trust me," Matt replies with confidence. 'I hope,' he thinks to himself with an equal amount of doubt.

Kid Flash then asks Aqualad, who had switched his costume to stealth mode. "What's in the bag?"

Kaldur pats it and glances at M'gann and Matt. "Plan B," he says.

Miss Martian and Daredevil both put their hands to their heads almost simultaneously. Matt could feel something affecting the Bioship. "You alright?" Connor asks her. Even Wolf let out a concerned whimper.

"M'gann. Turn to starboard now. We've got two hostiles in front of us," Matt says, hearing two malicious heart beats a few hundred meters on the ground below.

She nods in confirmation and turns the struggling ship right, despite the effort being a major strain on both her and the ship. But the Bioship started to lose elevation and it brushed against the top of a few trees, visibly damaging them.

"There," Count Vertigo says, stopping his psychic wave that was affecting the ship. Black Adam sees the shimmer of the cloaked Bioship and leaps towards it like a lighting bound spring. He strikes the side of the ship with a powerful blow that made Matt's ears ring and sent the entire ship spiralling downwards.

M'gann was struggling to keep the ship afloat. Flying through Red Twisters tornado was less strenuous. "Hang on," she screams out to the team, seconds before the ship makes an impact with a river, skidding along the surface like a flat stone.

Two large tendril-like vines wrap around the fallen Bioship and start to pull it further below the surface. The teenagers, not even having time to register what was going on heard a tremendous thud on top of the ship. The organic material of the ship concaves as a fist forces itself through.

The hole widens enough to reveal the scowling face of Black Adam. Matt reacts immediately to the threat and runs under the hole. He then pulls out his enchanted katana and swipes upwards. The blade pierces Adam in the eye, causing the villain to scream in pain, feeling an excess of blood leave his body.

M'gann was groaning, feeling the distress the Bioship was in. Seeing this, Connor leaps angrily towards Black Adam, punching him in the face so hard that he was sent flying away in the distance, through a few trees.

The large vines pull the ship deeper into the river and water starts to flood the insides of the ship. "No. No way I'm drowning three missions in a row," Artemis says, trying to find an underwater breathing device she had on her person.

Wally looks around and sees that Daredevil, who had his swords tied to his back, and Robin had already put the breathing devices in their mouths and dove underwater. Superboy and Wolf took in a deep breath and followed suit. Miss Martian used her shapeshifting to grow gills across her neck and she and Aqualad followed their teammates.

Seeing his distress Artemis rummages through her things and pulls out another breathing device and hands it to Wally, surprising him. "Wow. Thanks," he says simply as the two dive down through a small opening in the ship that Miss Martian had morphed. The Team swim ashore, with Aqualad leading the way underwater and with the exception of Kaldur and M'gann take in massive gulps of air when they reach dry land.

"Ok. Let's… " Matt started to say but he drew his Billy club and threw it into the forest, causing Count Vertigo to audibly fall to the ground. Matt raises his hand to catch the ricocheting weapon but feels something large coming at him faster than he could react.

He feels someone grip his throat and feels a rush of air travelling past his body at blistering speeds. His aggressor violently pushes him against a tree, causing it to fall and Matt grasped his arm, trying to pry it away to allow him to breathe.

"Let's see how you look with a hole through your chest," Black Adam says, pulling back his free hand. Matt tastes the blood where Adam's eye used to be and smirks.

"Look up," he says with a burning throat. The villain looks up but sees nothing. Instead, a powerful set of arms wrap themselves around his waist and push him towards the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

Connor puts Adam's arm in a hold that Black Canary had taught him and he turns to Matt. "Go. I got this," he says. His voice was shaking from the amount of effort he was putting into restraining the villain.

Matt hears Count Vertigo get up and he makes an announcement over the psychic link. 'Robin, M'gann. Disappear into the jungle with me. Everyone else, keep the big guys distracted till we finish the job. Aqualad, take charge,' he thinks as the three he mentioned disappeared into the shadows, with M'gann cloaking herself.

Black Adam flys upward and grabs Connor by his shoulders and hurls him into the remaining heroes. They get out of the way but they inadvertently stand in front of Vertigo. The Count mentally activates the ring around his forehead and a psychic wave is emitted from it. The teenagers grab their heads and fall to the ground, unable to withstand the barrage.

Superboy stands up. His eyes bloodshot and his head made him feel like he was repeatedly being slammed through a mountain. But he soldiered through, slowly making his way towards Count Vertigo. The psychic waves stop and Connor feels someone hit him in the back of the head.

His vision goes black for a second but he stands back up and sees Black Adam standing behind him. Superboy throws a relatively weak punch at the villain but misses. Two more punches hit Connor square in the jaw but he still wouldn't go down. "That the best you got?" he asks weakly.

Black Adam snarls at the Kryptonian. He floats into the air cocks back his arm and flies into Connor at full speed. The teenager crumples down into the ground, the impact sends a large shockwave across the island.

* * *

"You guys feel that?" Matt asks, feeling the vibrations through the ground. Robin and M'gann nod, they didn't need super senses to notice an impact like that. M'gann wanted to go back and help Connor but she stopped herself. He wasn't the mission.

Daredevil leads the way and was using his sword to cut through any branches that blocked their path. 'Guys. Take a left,' he thinks over the link.

Robin sees the map on his holographic display and gives Matt a puzzled expression. 'Why? The dome's two klicks in front of us.'

'Just checking out a hunch,' Matt responds mentally. The three take a sharp right turn and Matt felt the ground behind them shifting in the same direction. 'Something's tunnelling through the ground below us,' he warns them.

'Probably more vines,' M'gann responds mentally.

Robin subtly looks around for the culprit but sees no one. Matt knew who he was looking for too but he couldn't hear a woman's heartbeat anywhere. For all he knew Poison Ivy could be in the dome, controlling the vines remotely or could be a few yards away.

After walking for a few more minutes the dome and the beanstalk like structure sprouting from it was now in sight. 'Ambush in three, two, one,' Matt thinks, hearing a set of footsteps behind them. Plants break out of the ground and wrap themselves around the three, trapping them.

"Why hello," Ivy says. Ultra-Humanite jumps behind her and points a rifle at them. "And goodbye," she finishes as the ape puts M'gann's head in his sights.

Matt felt the metal around his sword getting hotter and the vine trapping him get weaker. A flame erupts from the sharp blade and he swings it around, cutting the three of them free. Ultra-Humanite fires at Matt but he flips forward and narrowly dodges the bullet. 'Now I know what one of the runes are for,' he thinks.

Robin slides across the vines and leaps up into the trees and M'gann used her telekinesis to ward off any of the plants that tried to entrap her. Daredevil sees that they had no time to waste here and makes a decision.

'I'll fight the two in the HQ. You take care of the ones in front of us,' Matt orders mentally. He runs through the woods, burning through any vine Ivy launched at him while Humanite provided suppressing fire with his gun, preventing Miss Martian and Robin from getting too close to her.

Ivy sees Daredevil run towards the dome and frowns. She hopes her teammates inside could handle him.

* * *

Daredevil slung his sword onto his back and grappled to the top of the dome. He heard two heartbeats inside. One was accompanied by a unique laugh that could only belong to the Joker and the other was surrounded by an unusually large amount of radiation. 'Probably Atomic Skull. Great, a zombie that shoots lasers from his head and I've got a couple of swords and Billy clubs. Now what?' Matt thinks.

He feels the carbon-dioxide level in his vicinity decrease and hears something slither behind him. Matt draws his sword again but more vines wrap around his body and he is brought down to ground level. The two villains walk towards him.

Joker waves a finger at Matt and smiles. "When you're pen pals with Bats for as long as I've been, you tend to look for any hidey holes where he might pop up. So, what're you supposed to be, his understudy? Seriously kid, you need a new suit. A red colour scheme doesn't hide the blatant plagiarism," he tells him nonchalantly, lamenting the time he once threw Harley out of a window for wearing blue one day.

Atomic Skull charges his beam and aims his head at Matt. Bring bored with the Jokers rambling.

Refusing to die at the hands of these clowns, Matt removes a smoke grenade and ruptures it inside his hand, allowing a grey cloud to envelop the surrounding area. He burns through the vine with his enchanted blade and he runs in circles around Skull, occasionally allowing the zombie-like villain to see brief flashes of red.

Unable to contain the energy build up any longer, Atomic Skull fires upwards into the sky, making sure that he wouldn't hit the plant or Joker. But that was the opening that Matt needed.

He sped towards the villain and draws his reverse-edged blade to strike Skull in the side of the neck, hitting the carotid artery. The impact didn't penetrate the skin. It couldn't. But it momentarily stopped blood flow to his brain and he stumbles. Matt hits Atomic Skull three more times in the head and knocks him out, fracturing his skull.

He turns around when he hears gloved hands, slapping each other in a round of applause. "Bravo. Loved that move with the gas. I mean, it's really old school and even Robin could do it but that doesn't matter. You still took out Skull. But the question is… " Joker says bowing before Matt. "Can you take me?" he asks with a menacing giggle.

Matt flourishes his sword and points it at Joker. He tilts his head upon hearing his unnaturally steady heartbeat. "Give me ten seconds," he tells the villain with a cocky tone of voice. Joker covers his mouth and gasps with facetious shock. He pulls out a pocket watch and winds it up, checking the second hand.

Daredevil puts the sheath to the side of his hip and puts his sword back in. He takes a right step forward and leans in, preparing to land a quick strike on the Joker, with the act of pulling the sword out from the side making the attack much faster than usual.

Matt launches himself at The Joker, drawing his sword and aiming it's reverse-blade towards his chest. But he has seen Daredevil run at top speed when fighting Skull. The Joker pulls on the flower pinned to his jacket and aims it at Matt.

Feeling small residual particulates sting his face, Matt stops inches before hitting The Joker and covers his face. A dark green liquid squirts out of the flower and hit's Matt in the forearm. He quickly drops the sword and removes his glove, feeling his skin blister despite his armour. The corrosive liquid eats through the glove and the ground surrounding it.

Before Matt could think Joker took a small can out of his purple jacket and sprayed it right under Matt's nose. The teenager held his breath, stopping the Joker's venom from entering his system but the Clown Prince of crime kicked him to the ground and started to step on him like a feral child. Matt rolls into a ball, unable to defend himself any other way.

Joker places his hands on Matt's temples and he slowly opens his lips next to Matt's ear. "Can you hear me in there Bat's? Sending second-rate cosplayers after me isn't a good idea. The results might be… _shocking_ ," he whispers next to Matt. A throaty laugh exits his throat as he presses an electric buzzer against Daredevils helmet.

Matt shouts in agony as he feels an ungodly amount of electricity course through his body. Despite his armour insulating him from the brunt of the current, he still felt like fire was coursing through his veins. Eventually, the small device runs out of power and the electricity stops.

His muscle where twitching uncontrollably but Matt was used to fighting with a handicap. He headbutts Joker, breaking his nose and pushes him away. He stands up and gets into a traditional boxing stance. "Pretending to be Batman wasn't enough for you? Now you're trying to pull off an Ali? Still, if it's a whooping you're a-wantin'," Joker says with a giant smile.

The clown hunches forward and lets his hands droop down free and relaxed, inviting the younger fighter to take a crack at him. Matt frowns in frustration. 'Why isn't he taking this fight seriously. I could knock him out in a single punch with a guard that bad,' he thinks to himself. He slowly circles around The Joker, trying to determine if he was trying to play another trick.

"So. Are we fighting or do we need daddy Bats' permission to trade a few blows?" Joker asks with a wild expression, giggling uncontrollably. The sound of his laugh was poison to Matt's ears. He steps forward and delivers a blinding jab right into Joker's face.

The clown's expression changes from relaxed to alarmed in a split second. He raises his hands to block the incoming assault. Matt was driving Joker backwards with his punches, each blow bruising his pale, white skin. He follows up with a devastating shot to the body, making The Joker wince and spit out a few drops of saliva and blood.

The assault continues, with The Joker barely hanging on for life and Matt pounding away at him, exploiting any gaps in his defence he could find. The villains slip back and finds that he was resting against something. He looks behind him and sees that he now had his back against the giant plant.

Matt smiles. Not just because he had The Joker cornered but because he could hear Miss Martian and Robin coming towards them a few hundred metres away. They would reach the dome in a few minutes and then would plant explosives on the target. Which in this case was a plant. 'Funny,' Matt thinks.

Daredevil rushes forward and delivers a right hook that planted itself firmly into Joker's chin. His body violently bends backwards from the force of the punch and it looks like he was about to fall over. But a bored expression spreads across his pale face. The Joker grabs onto a vine behind and from his half fallen position hits Matt under his jaw with an uppercut, launching him a foot off of the ground.

'The hell was that?' Matt thinks, rubbing his chin, not expecting any retaliation from his opponent. With his back still bent backwards Joker starts slamming Daredevil, who had gotten up with with a series of odd but powerful punches, left and right to various parts of Matt's body. It was like a demon possessed the clown and was taking over his body. Fighting with a controlled savagery than Matt has never encountered before.

The Joker takes out a switchblade from his sleeve and cuts Matt across his ungloved hand. He jumps back from the next strike which only grazed the armour on his chest. A blood soaked laugh erupts from Joker's mouth as he grabs Matt, dropping the knife. The Joker then taps his heel and a small blade comes out of his shoe. He kicks Matt in the side and the knife penetrates his armour, piercing his skin.

Daredevil falls to the ground again, clutching his new wound. Joker dusts off his suit and straightens his tie. "He has the same weakness in _his_ armour you know. You even copied the flaws. Shame. After hearing Bullseye talk about you I thought you'd be a hoot to deal with. But instead, I get a wannabe who doesn't even try anything new," Joker says with a complacent tone.

He steps on Matt's knife wound which makes him him hiss in pain. "Well come on. At least give me the usual cliched dialogue. 'You'll never get away with this.' Or, I dunno. 'You haven't seen my true form.' Something. Anything. Even Batman's more chatty than you," he says, stepping on the teenagers throat.

Matt mutters something under his breath but it was inaudible to The Joker. "What's that junior. Might want to speak up a bit. Not as young as I used to be," he says, coming closer to Matt.

"Would Batman do this?" he asks him menacingly. The Joker felt a sharp pain in his side. He looks down and sees that Daredevil had stabbed him. He looks to Matt's wound and notices that the blade piercing his armour was missing.

"Not bad kid," he coughs out, laughing slightly. Matt uses a knife-hand strike to his throat and almost knocks the Joker unconscious. "You remove that bit of metal, you bleed out and die. Imagine Batman's face if you did that," he tells Joker, grinning in front of his battered body.

He removes his enchanted sword and places the tip over his injury. Moving the armour away from the stab-wound slightly.

Matt bites down on his Billy club and allows a small amount of heat to exit the sword and fuse the skin there, cauterizing the wound. He falls over, not expecting the pain to be as bad as it was. He spits his club out and lies on the floor.

A smile crawls across his face, hearing a few friendly footsteps come his way. "We leave you alone for like fifteen minutes and you do all this?" Robin asks him jovially. M'gann sees the unconscious body of the Atomic Skull and the conscious form of Joker, clutching an open wound and helps Matt up.

"Am I the only one concerned that he stabbed the bad guy?" M'gann asks the two.

Dick sees her and gives her a considered look. "Hey, I saw Batman throw him into a grenade once. He'll be fine." Robin then looks at Joker with a smug face. "How's it feel to get beat up by the Devil?"

"You know. With the benefit of hindsight… " Joker started to say but Matt picks up a small rock and throws it at his head. Knocking him out stone cold. He gives Dick an expectant look making him nod. Robin climbs the primary plant, placing explosive disks all around it.

Matt hears a smatter of footsteps stepping into marsh and water outside the dome. The other members of the team were doing there best to fend off the remaining members of the Injustice League. "When we're done here. We need to join the others," he tells M'gann with a small voice.

"You can barely stand. You have to stay here and rest," she tells him with concern. Robin leaps down and pats him on the back.

"Hey. Two out of seven's still pretty good," he tells Matt, gesturing at the two fallen villains.

Matt relents and asks Miss Martian to hover the three of them on top of the open dome. He decided he would stay there to 'Catch his breath.'

The large plant started to emit pheromones in the air, trying to communicate its peril to its mother. "My baby," Poison Ivy cries out, turning around seeing the dozens of explosive disks, glowing and primed to explode.

A large ball of fire erupts from the plant. The once mighty structure was now falling apart and incinerating in an inferno. Daredevil, M'gann and Robin stood on the edge of the dome, looking down at the skirmish below. "Timber," Dick says, crossing his arms.

Matt points downwards and the two beside him make there way down to where the action was. Count Vertigo sees the two join their teammates and commands his people to kill the young heroes. Ultra-Humanite snarls at Wolf and Superboy. Before the latter could act Black Adam flies behind him and grabs the kryptonian and flies him through multiple trees. Wolf pounces towards Humanite and the two animals start mauling each other.

Vertigo sees that Artemis was in range of his attack and uses the device on his head to generate psychic waves to incapacitate her. She grabs her head and falls into the mud. She looks up and reaches out towards the Count, seeing his smug grin of satisfaction.

"Leave her alone," Wally says, running towards her. But he is hit by an orange blast of energy before he could build enough speed to reach her.

Woton stops the assault on the Speedster when he sees three disks being hurled his way by Robin. The hovering wizard forms a force field around his body, rendering the projectiles useless. He generates electricity from his hands and shoots out lighting which is directed towards every member of the team, currently fighting on the ground.

Robin, Artemis, Wally, M'gann and wolf were instantly pinned to the ground by the attack. Both Superboy and Aqualad were able to withstand the attacks and still stay standing but the former was starting to succumb due to his vulnerability to magic.

Kaldur's tattoos started to glow and he blocks the lightning with his hands, redirecting the current through his body and into the ground. Woton's eyes were closed when casting this spell, concentrating so that he did not kill the children too quickly. He would savour their demise.

The magician feels a faint mystical energy heading his way and stops the barrage of lighting and erects a barrier. But object penetrates it and impales his gut. He looks down and sees blood slowly dripping down his robes. He hovers slowly towards the ground and kneels on shaky legs, not used to feeling this sort of pain.

Matt walks towards the Sorcerer and pulls out his enhanced sword from his target. "Guess I didn't throw this thing hard enough," he says, knowing that the barrier must have reduced the swords velocity. Woton tries to use a healing spell on the stab wound but to no avail.

He was still losing blood.

Running his fingers over the three runes of the blade, Matt now understood what they could do. 'Burn, cut and bleed. Should have been obvious,' he thinks to himself. Woton purses his lips and stares at Matt with bitter rage. He charges a spell at the wounded teenager and prepares to cast it.

Matt reaches for his Billy club but finds it missing after a rush of air dashes past him. Woton's vision is filled with the image of the club hitting him faster than he could even react to. The old wizard falls when a blurry Billy club makes contact with his stab wound, causing his flesh to knot and tear inside his body.

Wally stops running and throws the weapon back to Matt. "That. Was gross," he tells his blind friend, who was wiping the blood of his weapon.

"Behind you!" Matt yells out. Kid Flash turns around and sees Black Adam flying towards them. The Speedster runs towards his teammate and picks him up, but the action slowed him down for a few seconds. Which was more than enough time for Adam to back hand the two into a rock, almost knocking the two out.

Despite Wally taking most of the damage, Matt felt like he was about to vomit out the rest of the blood in his body. He hears bones creaking as he gets up but does not feel anything wrong with his own skelton. He slowly prods Wally's arm and realises that it was broken.

M'gann uses her telekinesis to immobilize Black Adam before he could kill the two and Connor lets out an angry howl, striking the villain in the jaw. Aqualad lifts Matt up and Artemis does the same for Wally.

She sees Ivy trying to hit a cloaked M'gann with her vines, the tendrils missing the near-invisible target. Vertigo uses his psychic waves to decloak the martian and stops to allow Ivy's vines to ensnare her.

"Take care of him," Artemis says gently, allowing Wally to slump against Kaldur. She runs towards Vertigo and leaps in the air. She extends her leg and let her muddy foot strike Vertigo in the chest, making him fall on top of Ivy.

She grabs the Counts cloak and tears a piece off, running towards Wally. Aqualad loosens his grip as the speedster starts to regain consciousness. "Hey. That's my souvenir," he says in a voice that made him sound half asleep.

Artemis slowly takes his broken arm in her hands. "Hold still," she says, using the cloak to make a sling for Wally. Before the stunned speedster could thanks her, Matt kicked Kaldur into the two, preventing them from being hit by Ultra-Humanite, who threw Wolf at the group. Unfortunately, that meant that Matt was now winded by a hundred and fifty pound canine being thrown at him.

'I'd like to get through at least one mission without getting my ass kicked,' he thinks as he pushes Wolf off of his body, his ribs now no the verge of cracking. Ultra-Humanite grabs Matt by the neck and roars in his face, showering Daredevil in spit and small pieces of partially chewed food.

He opens his jaws to bite Matt's head and he squirms in his grasp, feeling the heat of the apes mouth inch closer to his face. Ultra-Humanite looks up and instantly drops Matt to the ground. The teenager coughs out some mud and crawls away towards his teammates.

Matt concentrates to sense what Humanite was looking at and a warm smile stretched across his face.

Superman along with the rest of the Justice League were occupying the skies. With the Green Lanterns constructing platforms with their rings. The remaining villains see the adult heroes arrive on the battlefield. Vertigo looks at the League with contempt.

He looks like he was seconds away from blasting the heroes with a psychic wave but then takes stock of the situation. Over twenty heroes were present her whilst he only had four members remaining in his team. Plus, given that the four were tired from battle and Superman and the Lanterns alone could potentially defeat them in their current state only one action made sense to Count Vertigo.

He removes the ring from his head and raises his hands in defeat. Ivy and Humanite see their leader surrender and decide to do the same. Despite Black Adam's urge to slay Daredevil and Superboy, he sees the entire Justice League stare at him. Batman's infamous glare conveyed to him what the message was.

'Try it. Let's see what happens.'

With his pride now wounded he raises his hands in surrender as well. His thoughts echoes Vertigo's words to the League as they restrain him in handcuffs. "There will be another time."

The Team gather up and stand next to each other. Seeing every single member of the Injustice League being taken away by the flying members of the League, save for Hal Jordan, who decided to stay back and provide transport for the non-flyers.

Joker grins at Matt who simply gave the Clown the middle finger before the villain was hovered away in the air. An interaction Bruce found interesting though one could never tell with his stoic expression.

Batman, Aquaman, Zatara and Captain Marvel then stand before the teenagers. "Our work here is done. The secret society of Villains has been neutralised. As for your performance… " The Dark Knight says, his sentence trailing on, leaving the Team in suspense.

"It was satisfactory."

The injured and muddy Team look to each other in confusion. 'Was that a complement?' Wally asks over the psychic link.

'No idea,' Robin responds mentally. He had given up hope on trying to read Bruce's emotions years ago.

* * *

Matt collapses in his bed, sinking into the aging, bloodstained mattress. Claire had spent the previous few hours dressing his cauterised wound. She connected a drip to Matt's veins which provided him with a supply of blood that he had frozen and stored in his freezer.

"You need a better place to store that stuff," she says, gesturing towards the empty blood pack. She seals up the item in a zip-locked bag which she would incinerate later on. Mark sees his foster brother, now bedridden and sighs.

"He can't keep doing this to himself," Mark says, his eyes trailing over Matt's pale and bruised body. Claire wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him in for a hug.

She strokes his chin and looks at Matt. "Not much we can do to stop him," she tells her boyfriend. They see Matt's belly rise up and down. Indicating that he was asleep. Despite knowing that he was probably acting they close his door to the tiny room, giving him some privacy.

Once he hears them move away from his room Matt picks up his communicator and puts it in his ear. He hears a familiar ring as he makes his call. 'They're right. I need to take a few days off,' he thinks, rubbing the bandages over his stab wound.

"Hello?" a voice asks over the communicator.

"Hey El, whats up?" Matt asks.

The Greek girl yawns and glances at her clock, seeing that it was four in the morning. "Matthew? Something the matter? You don't usually call me this early," she says with a dry throat.

Matt sniggers which made him groan as his wounds start to burn. "Just wanted to know if you still wanted to go to dinner on Sunday."

"Of course. Why? Has something come up?" Elektra asks, hoping that another attempt at trying to act like a regular couple was not going to do down the drain.

"No. Just… Well, I wanted to hear your voice is all," he says.

Elektra closes her eyes which were craving to go back to sleep but smiles sweetly when she hears that. Though she suddenly jumps out of bed when she remembers something crucial that she forgot to tell him.

"Matthew. I need to tell you something," she says with a grave voice.

Matt shuffles in his bed and gulps loud enough for her to hear over the communicator. "What? Is it the Hand?"

"What? No? My foster father wants to meet you," she says, biting her lip.

Matt blinks silently. He raises a finger but lowers it, not sure if he had heard her properly.

"HE WANTS TO WHAT?"

* * *

 **And that is the end of that chapter. I made it so that the Helmet of Faith wasn't used this time since the only reason Aqualad used it was to fight Woton.**

 **I am so happy with the response this story is getting. I never thought that I would get this many people reading this story and commenting on it. So keep it coming.**

 **Now to reply to the comments I can't PM**

 **theKike: You can make you find Captain America in a future that would be incredible and that the team knows Electra continues like this**

 **Me: I doubt I'm going to include Cap in this story. There really isn't a place for him. In regards to Elektra, you're gonna have to wait and see.**

 **Guest: Great chapter, it's gonna be interesting when Wally meets elektra lol**

 **Me: Thanks man. Yep. It certainly will be.**

 **theKike: I want to emphasize something, the relationship of Superboy / Conner Kent and superman / Clark Kent is more like brothers than the father or son is something strange, another thing when they go to recruit a red arrow could also do it with daredevil because he has proven to be able. u be able to face the big evils**

 **Me: Well, I made their relationship more akin to a father/son type since I felt that it was out of character for Superman to reject Connor like that, so quickly.**

 **Also, Red Arrow and Matt, while they trust each other more thanks to the stuff they went through with the Shadows I doubt Matt would want him as a full on member of the team. Besides, he trusts Artemis more than Roy anyways.**

 **That's all folks.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Red and Purple :**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, October 1st, 2010:**

The young woman waves her hands around and rubs the skin that was peeling off of her burnt finger. She rushes towards the kitchen cabinet to retrieve a band-aid but stops when she hears a voice in the hall say, "Leave it. Get back to work." She stops in her tracks and heads back to the oven. She opens it up and places her hands on the heated metal tray which contained the cake she was preparing.

She could smell her hands smouldering against the metal and sweat was dripping down her forehead. Moving her dishevelled hair out of her face she pries the cake loose from the sides with a knife, despite her fingers struggling to grip the utensil.

With a quick movement that was only possible due to the immense pain she was feeling, she slices the cake into six equal pieces and places them on separate plates. With trembling hands, she stands next to her creation, awaiting her next command.

The sound of him cursing in the hallway, complaining about Arsenal, a British football team always packing it in. Though she had no idea what that meant. He turns around and looks at the fearful woman. "Hope? You finished yet?" he asks kindly with a sophisticated English accent. The thing that drew her attention towards him in the first place.

A decision she had deeply regretted.

Hope nods, her blue eyes stung with tears as her burnt hands shook. The purple suited man stood up and sighed. "Don't do that," he says in a tired tone. Hope's face straightens and the tears stop falling down her face, though she wanted nothing more than to sob right now.

"Well then. Let's eat," he says, with a smile. He walks into her kitchen and pulls out a chair from under the table. The man gestures towards the chair next to him and Hope gets the message. She grasps the chair next to him with the tips of her fingers and pulls it out, which strained her but she refused to whine so as to prevent her ' _guest'_ from feeling uncomfortable.

The purple skinned man looks at her expectantly. "You can serve us now," he says simply. Hope obliges and stands. She then clears the table of the old dishes that they had eaten from so that they had room to eat dessert.

He fingers the cake, prodding at it like a child might a dead squirrel. He then takes in a deep breath above the pastry and took in the aroma of chocolate and butter. "Seems satisfactory. Why don't you take the first bite? Can't take any chances with you lot. You might have poisoned this thing," he says crossing his arms.

Hope looks down at the cake and nods. She carefully positions the fork she placed on the table into her hands, making sure it did not touch her burns. The metal slices through the cake and she takes it in with a single bite. He watches her slowly chew her food with wide, curious eyes. She swallows, making sure that she made eye contact with him as she did. "Nothing's wrong with it," she says, holding back her tears.

He starts to speak but stops when he hears the doorbell ringing. "You. Stay quiet," he says, walking swiftly towards the apartment door. He looks through the peephole and sees a man holding a suitcase. The purple individual turns his head left and sees a picture of Hope and a young man standing next to each other, hands intertwined.

He starts to laugh and gives Hope a false look of shame. The purple man opens the door and Hope's husband looks at him with a bewildered look.

"Who the hell… "

"Shh," the Purple man says patronisingly.

He listens. Though he was not sure why he was obeying the Englishman. "Oh. Your missus and I met at a little bar on forty-ninth street. You should have seen the way she was dancing next to those old businessmen. Quite the people pleaser," he tells the husband, who's veins were popping out of his neck in anger.

The purple man sees this and clicks his tongue. "Well if you're going to act like that I may as cut this little conversation short. Turn around," he says. The man obliges and turns away from him.

"Face the stairs," he says. Hope's husband does so, and he feels his heart beating against his chest. He sees the staircase and the seven-foot between him and the floor at its end.

The purple man strokes his chin, feeling the small hair follicles growing on it. "Take a few steps back," he says, pointing at him.

The man takes deep breaths as he takes a few steps backwards. He was not sure what he was about to do next.

"Alright, take a running start and jump down the stairs as fast as you can. Go on," he says. The husband turns his head back and forth between the English man and the stairs. He slaps his legs as he feels his muscles burn, sprinting towards his target as fast as he could. He feels his feet fall and sees the ground below him come closer.

A loud splat echoes across the flat and he looks down, seeing a puddle of blood pour out of the husband's skull. He goes back into the room and looks at Hope who was waiting with trepidation. "Ok. Probably should have thought that one out more. Can't really be seen next to a crime scene. It's a pain in the arse. Ok, Hope. Jump out that window. That should make this seem more like a domestic issue," he says walking towards the table, picking up his plate. He puts it under the tap and starts to rinse it off while Hope was simultaneously opening her window.

He turns back and looks her in the eye. "Just leap. Like this," he says, hopping in place. She closes her eyes, refusing to look down at the cars below. She prays to God and begs forgiveness for what she had done and with a final exhalation, she jumps off of the window sill.

The purple man continues to wash his dishes, making sure that they were too clean to have any fingerprints on them. He hears a few cars honking below and hears tires screeching against the tarmac. He leaves the tap running and walks out the door, walking over the bloody corpse of the husband.

He walks out of the crowded lobby of the apartment, taking no notice of the swarm of people surrounding what he assumed was his former host. He sees a pair of pretty girls walking a few feet away and smiles.

Zebediah Kilgrave would still have his fun tonight.

* * *

 **Unknown location, October 2nd, 2010:**

Matt raises his sword and blocks a ferocious swipe. The force of which sent him down on his knees. Robin throws a pair of disks at their enemy but he ducks underneath and they explode harmlessly behind him. Batman throws a few batarangs at his feet which exploded on impact. But the hooded figure turned into a red-mist and re-appeared behind the Dark Knight.

He crosses his arms as his black gauntlets stop him from being skewered by his foes long, foot-long claws that grew from his fingernails. Elektra tries to stab the creature but it simply turns around and grabs her arm. He raises her in the air and throws her against the wall, making a few of his old, mounted treasures fall off their mantles. The four stop their assault, taking a few seconds of respite.

The figure they were fighting was just under six feet tall. He was wearing a red robe that concealed his entire body and a hood that only had two small holes for his eyes. His hands were grotesque and skeletal like, his skin was pale and barely hanging off of the bones. His claws retracted back and started to look more like normal nails.

"I am surprised that you tracked me down. I must admit, it has been many decades since any mortal has entered my castle," the man says in a Romanian accent. The room they were in was made of flat cobblestone and many old, medieval weapons adorned mantles nailed into the walls. Swords, crossbows, shields, maces. All covered in soot, rust and dried blood. This hooded figure has lived for quite some time.

Batman gets up and spits some blood onto the floor. His enemy's eyes follow the path of the drop and eagerly rushes towards it. He lifts his hood and licks the blood off of the floor. Bruce sees fangs protrude from his mouth and steps back.

"You were a monk of the Catholic Church during the crusades, judging by your clothing. You came to America in the nineteenth century to flee extremists in Europe. You bought this castle under the name of Vladimir Kureshuli and have been preying on any soul who enters the woods surrounding your property ever since. You recently started extending your hunts to New York and Gotham. Probably due to the city expansions encroaching on your territory," Bruce says concisely to the hooded monk who folded his hands and nodded.

"Your moniker as 'Detective' befits you, Batman. I have heard of your exploits on the television. A remarkable device. Don't you think?" the monk says.

Robin looks out the barred window and sees the never-ending woods surrounding the castle. "How do you even get a signal out here?" he asks. Matt covers his mouth and Elektra pulls the boy away, allowing Batman to finish talking to the monk.

"Having discovered so much about me, I assume you know of my nature?" he asks Bruce.

The hero nods. "Then you must know that no mortal instrument can slay me, Batman. Not even one devised by someone as resourceful and cunning as you," he says with a quiet voice, reminding Matt of a few clergymen he had met in church.

"What about this?" Matt asks, throwing a vial at the monk. He raises his hand and catches the vial, shattering it in his grasp. Water leaks out of it and he gives Daredevil a disappointed look.

"I would have thought that a warrior who's attire resembles the Germanic interpretation of the Devil would know that vampires cannot be killed with holy water," he says, dropping the pieces of glass to the floor.

Matt tilts his head and says, "Made you look." The monk turns around and sees multiple disks on the ceiling above. They explode and over a tonne of stone slabs fall on top of the monk. The rubble shifts and a red mist slowly exits from the small gaps in the pile.

Batman removes a device from his belt and throws it at the re-assembling vampire. A blue fog fills the air and Matt felt a sudden drop in temperature. The monk starts to shiver. "Blood coagulant. Won't kill you but I doubt it tickles," he says.

Elektra takes her sai and slices the vampire's head off of his body. Not a drop of blood was spilt as she did so, the coagulant made sure of that. She grabs the head, allowing the immortal monk to look at his body fall to the floor.

Matt ignites his enchanted sword and walks towards the vampire's headless body. "Don't!" the hooded head warned but Elektra smacked it, making it shut up. Matt impales the back of the torso and they all watch as the body catches alight. The head watches in horror as the rest of him started to turn to ash.

"It will take almost a century to recover from that," the monk says in an annoyed tone. Robin looks at the head and could feel his dinner trying to claw out of his stomach.

"Am I the only one who's freaked out by that thing?" he asks. Elektra shrugs, not sure why he was so disturbed.

"I've seen far worse," she says, slapping the head again when it said it wasn't that bad to look at.

Bruce places a hand on Dick's shoulders. "I'll inform the authorities. Robin, make sure you disarm the booby traps before they get here. Daredevil, inform your friend that we appreciated her input," he says.

'Lux will be happy to hear that,' Matt thinks, happy that she was such a conspiracy nut back when they were younger.

Bodies were being found which had been drained of their blood in both New York and Gotham. The victims had nothing connecting them together except two small marks on the neck. Matt and Bruce decided to collaborate so that they could find the one responsible. Lakshmi helped Matt on his end and Bruce collected all the information that they all had gathered and pieced it all together. Deducing the vampire's location and identity.

"As for you," he says turning towards Elektra. The young girl stares the imposing hero in the eye, not willing to show any weakness. "You performed adequately," he says.

Being accustomed to people in authority refusing to give her positive feedback she smiles smugly under the cloth covering her mouth. "What about this?" she asks, lifting the head. Bruce grabs it and then uses the monks large hood as a bag and ties his head up inside of it.

He then surrounds it with his cables and injects the head with nanites he reverse-engineered from Mr Freeze. "This will make him sleep long enough till I give him over to Zatara." Bruce then sees Matt rubbing his neck.

"Think he bit me," he says, rubbing his fingers across the two small holes that marked his neck. Bruce takes off Matt's helmet and examines the wound.

"It's not too deep but it will scar over," he says calmly.

Panic spreads across Matt's face. "Wait. Am I gonna turn into a vampire?" he asks.

Bruce glares at him and frowns. "You can't turn a human into a vampire by having one bite you. This isn't a fantasy novel," he says as he nurses the wound with his first aid it. Matt yelps in pain as Bruce's less than gentle hands start to do their work.

"How do you know?" Matt asks. Knowing that Bruce would say something quite outlandish.

"I defeated Count Dracula five years ago. Learned a lot about his species preparing for our final confrontation," he says simply as he disinfects the bite mark.

Elektra and Matt look at him in awe as he casually mentions that feat. "Is that what that skull was in the Batcave?" he asks him. Bruce does not respond, too engrossed with his current task. Though his silence was all the confirmation that Matt needed.

After finishing with the field dressing and explaining the situation to a handful of Leaguers who arrived moments later, the four wait on top of the castle, hearing the police sirens close in on them. Batman faces Matt and Elektra. "Keep up the good work. Robin, with me," he says, gliding off of the castle with his cape.

Dick grapples behind him and gives Matt a thumbs up. He whispers quietly so only Matt could hear, "She's way too good for you." With a wide grin, he swings after Bruce. Matt rolls his eyes behind his mask.

"Batman and Robin. Never thought I would meet them in the flesh. Let alone fight beside them," she tells Matt. Her tone of voice revealed a sense of uncertainty.

"He said we did good work. That's the biggest compliment the guy ever gives. Besides, Bat's won't hold your past against you. Trust me. He's forgiven Catwoman like a hundred times," he says.

Elektra scoffs at that. "I'm pretty sure he did that for other reasons," she says walking closer to Matt.

"Yeah. You're probably right," he says. She places her hand on his shoulders but stops when she remembers something.

"Lunch," she says.

"No," he responds.

She gives him a pleading look and apologizes. "He just wants to talk Matthew."

"I don't want to meet your dad yet. It's way too soon," he says. "How does he even know about me?"

"Well, I had to give him a reason for coming home so late at night. It was the only thing I could think of," she says, trying to understand why she decided to be that honest with him at that point in time.

"Seems like a bad idea," he says, slinging his swords on his back.

Elektra kisses his cheek. "It's only lunch. What's the worst that can happen?"

* * *

"Have you been to Paris before Matt? Can I call you Matt? The city has some alluring sights. Wait, I did not mean- " he says. Matt waves his hand and dismisses the comment.

"Happens all the time Mr Natchios," Matt says brushing his fingers over the menu. Even though the plastic lamination prevented him from reading the text he kept at it, hoping that it would somehow make the awkwardness of this meeting disappear.

He points to Matt's bandage on his neck. "How did that happen? Your neck I mean," he says, forgetting that he was talking to someone who was blind.

Matt blurts out his usual excuse and immediately regrets it. "I walked into a pole."

"Mighty sharp pole," Hugo says sarcastically.

The three were having lunch at Le Bernardin, a French seafood restaurant in New York. Matt could taste the fish and crabs being cooked and boiled through the kitchen doors. He concentrated on that sensation, trying to distract himself more.

Elektra sat at their sides on the circular table and puts on a brave face. "Anything important happen at work today daddy?" She asks with a higher pitched voice. The voice of the innocent Elektra that her father knew.

"Nothing that warrants discussion," he says, taking a sip of the wine he had ordered. "Besides, I would like to get to know Matt some more. How are you performing at school?" He asks. Matt smiled when he heard the hint of condescension in his voice.

"I usually get A's. I got a B once in health though. Not really my area of expertise," he says, jabbing his bandage, doing his best to sound as calm and humble as possible. 'Plus I've got a super smart friend to do my homework for me on occasion plus a Kryptonian whose a living Wikipedia to help me study for tests the night before. That helps a bit,' he thinks.

Hugo Natchios' large chest relaxes slightly when he hears Matt speak. He sees the young redhead and is impressed by his solid posture and confidence. "Elektra tells me that you want to be a lawyer. Any idea as to what type of law you would like to practice?"

Matt thinks for a few seconds and places his hands on the table. "My mom used to be a defence attorney before she joined the DA's office. So I'm thinking about doing the former. Though my dad used to say that defence attorneys were the enemy. He was a boxer. Well, a cop after that but… um yeah. That's the idea," he says, smiling when he remembers his parents.

"Are they still working?" He asks him.

Both Elektra and Matt flinch when he asked the question. She places a hand on Matt's. "Matthew's father passed away last year. His mother fell into a coma," she says.

Hugo looks at Matt with sympathy. "I'm sorry," he says.

Matt shakes his head. "It's fine. I'm living with my brother now. He's a boxer like my dad was. Though he's a way better fighter," he says lightheartedly, wanting to change the tone of the conversation.

Wanting to do the same Hugo continues with Matt's flow. "How so?"

"My brother actually dodges punches. My dad preferred to break his opponent's knuckles with his face," he says with a laugh.

Hugo joins in, finding the concept to be outlandish. His toupee almost falling off of his head as a result.

His phone vibrates and Elektra picks it up. "It's mum. You two carry on. I'll talk to her," she says, switching to Greek when she put the phone to her ear. She walks away from the two and a numbing silence fills the air.

"If I'm being honest. I wasn't sure why I wanted to meet you. She's had boyfriends before but I think she really cares for you," Hugo tells Matt which threw the teenager off.

"When we took her in she never spoke to us all that much. And when she did she always had a stiffness about her. But for the past few months, she seems more relaxed. And I would assume you've influenced that to some extent," he says. His tone was sombre and kind.

Matt nodded his head, blinking at lightning speeds behind his glasses. "She's been through a lot," he says.

"Either way. I'm happy my little girl seems to be choosing her partner's well. So when do you intend on getting married?"

Matt almost leaps out of his chair when he hears that. He stammers uncontrollably. "I don't… It's not really…"

Hugo bellows like a happy panda. "I only jest. You two are far too young for that," he says, his eyes tearing up from laughter.

A fake smile slowly appears across Matt's face. "Yep," he says taking a gulp of water. 'How long does a phone call take?' he asks himself mentally.

Elektra sees her foster dad laughing in the distance and gives a defeated sigh. "He's probably told him some shitty joke. Poor bastard. We need to leave after eating. But where's our waiter?" She asks herself.

She turns her head and instantly spots the American who served her. He stuck out like a sore thumb to her thanks to his terrible French accent. She was Greek and even she could speak the language better.

He was serving a man wearing a purple suit. But what perplexed Elektra was the man's skin tone.

He was dark purple. Even his hair shared the colour.

She sees the two men engaging in conversation. The Purple man was clearly displeased with his service. She read his lips and could make out the words "Allergic to prawns."

The waiter hears him finish his sentence and takes a knife into his hands. He places it an inch away from his eye and drives the metal through his socket.

Elektra rushes over towards the waiter, as the customers nearby either scream or gasp in shock. She holds the man and tries to stop him from bleeding.

Kilgrave looks at her but cannot concentrate due to the sound of the other patrons. "Quiet!" He yells out and the entire restaurant turns silent. Elektra notices this and gets up immediately and grabs his throat.

Two large men stand up and try to grab Elektra. 'Hired guards?' she thinks. She kicks one in the knee and headbutts him. She hits the other in the groin and delivers a right hook to his chin, knocking him out as well.

Kilgrave manages to escape her grip during the scuffle and sees the young fighter trying to approach him. "Stop. Stop!" he says in a blind panic. Elektra stands still and raises a brow. Her psychic defences weren't activated when he commanded her.

The Purple man walks around Elektra as if he was inspecting her. She felt like he was violating her with his gaze but felt powerless to stop him.

"What's your name?" He asks her with his arms crossed.

"Elektra Natchios," she says quickly. Her accent catches Kilgrave off guard.

"Are you English by any chance or is that something you picked up in prep school?" He asks her.

She frowns and says briefly. "I've travelled."

He looks at her with a bemused look. "Alright then. How old are you?"

"Sixteen. In a few weeks."

"Well, that's a shame. We could have had some fun if you were a bit older. But I'm in need of some muscle, seeing as you saw fit to beat up my men. How about it?" He asks rhetorically. With a charming smile.

Before she could respond Kilgrave sees a large man and a boy with a cane walk towards him. "Stay where you are," he tells them.

Hugo stops immediately but Matt only slows down. Though he wasn't sure why. He felt ultraviolet rays being emitted from the man's skin, making him feel much warmer than everyone else.

"You're not blind, are you? You lot are so much harder to boss around. Let me guess, you're the dad?" He asks Matt and Hugo respectively.

"Yes," he says angrily.

Kilgrave looks at the two with a bored expression. "Elektra. Dispose of them."

Hugo looks in shock as his daughter punches him in the liver, making him fall on the floor, clutching his sides in pain. Matt raises his cane, trying to block her next attack but she chops him in his injured neck with a knife-hand strike and he falls down.

'Thank God she was going easy on us,' he thinks, remembering the vampire's fate from the night before.

Elektra follows Kilgrave out of the restaurant, looking at the two on the floor with immense shame. "I know. We can pop off to the hotel. I've got a friend who would love to meet you."

Matt grabs the nearest table leg and uses it to prop himself up. He hears Elektra's heart beating very quickly. For the first time in his life, he's heard her being afraid.

"Who is this guy?" He thinks. He walks out of the restaurant but as he does every person outside it looks straight at him.

"Oh shit." He says as dozens of people start piling themselves on top of him. Matt slaps a few people away so as to not hurt them and tries to run away but his head is still fuzzy from Elektra's attack. Taking in a deep breath through his burning lungs he dashes past the people and knocks over anyone who grabs him like bowling pins.

The hoard follows him and a few stayed behind to watch over the restaurant, making sure no one else got out. They were following their orders.

In the commotion, he lost track of her heartbeat. He curses himself and runs through an alley and climbs up the fire escape. He kicks down anyone who tries to follow him and he jumps across to the next roof. Ensuring his safety.

He remembers hearing the tremor in her heartbeat and he balls his fist. His nails drawing blood from his palm.

"I'm going to shatter every bone in his body," he says vindictively. He thinks about the number of villains he's fought in New York over the past few months and asks in frustration.

"Where do these maniacs keep coming from?"

* * *

"London. Well, more accurately the East End. That's where I grew up. Dreary old place. Not like this city. Far less stuffy and the people are far more interesting. Don't you think?" Kilgrave asks.

She stares at him silently and he gives her a sad look. "Come on. Don't be like that. Talk," he says.

"What kind of a name is Kilgrave?" She asks.

"What kind of a name is Elektra? Didn't you hear me? I wanted you to answer not ask. Might need to work on our observational skills," he says, talking like a petulant toddler. He starts walking towards the TV.

Elektra counts the number of doors and windows while taking stock of any weapons she could use in the hotel room. 'Just wait a few minutes and see how good my observational skills are,' she thinks, looking at all the places on his body she could stab him in.

"Do you dance Elektra?" he asks, going through a playlist on his phone which was connected to the TV.

"On occasion," she says, picking up a toothpick he had used and hiding it in the palm of her hand. Kilgrave plays some old time blues and stretches his hand out towards Elektra.

Not one to waste an opportunity she takes his hand and places her left on his shoulder, letting the toothpick gently rest against his shirt. The two move around the room with a grace that Elektra did not think the purple man was capable of. "I had this old Spaniard give me a few classes. He was a lovely man. Though his hairline was pretty much non-existent," he tells her with another charming smile.

Elektra returns the smile and inches the toothpick near the base of his neck. She couldn't kill him with it but it would distract him long enough for her to deal some actual damage.

Kilgrave stares into her emerald green eyes and moves closer to her. "Drop it," he whispers into her ear, rubbing her back to the rhythm of the dance as he did. Elektra's gives him a disgusted look and drops the toothpick. "You think you're the first person to try and stab me? It's a bit old hat. Although, most people I know only try it out after a few months. You're much braver than the others," he says.

Kilgrave feels something on Elektra's back. "What's that, an old injury?"

Elektra looks away and nods. Kilgrave looks at her with concerned eyes. "Sit down. Tell me," he says kindly, offering her a glass of water as she did.

"Who did that to you?" He asks, feeling the whip marks on her back.

"My father," she says softly.

Kilgrave strokes his chin. "What? Him? That man looks about as harmful as a two-year-old pug," he says, remembering how Elektra casually knocked him unconscious.

"No. I meant my birth father. He used to whip me and sister when we were younger," she says.

He sees the pained look on her face and asks, "What happened to him?"

Elektra was about to respond but stops when she hears a muffled scream from the closed bedroom. Kilgrave hears this as well and his face lights up.

"Oh. Good. She's awake. Found her walking around a shop. Bit loud but I do love a blonde," he says, directing Elektra into the room.

Elektra's blood freezes when she sees the figure on top of the bed. She was barely clothed and was bound by leather straps to the bed and had a large cloth gagging her mouth.

"Shut up," he tells her, making the woman pipe down immediately. "Alright. Deal with her. She's being a nuisance," he tells Elektra.

The former assassin walks towards the girl and sees the panic in her eyes. With an apologetic look, she readies a fist and quickly jabs the blonde girl in the face, knocking her out.

She turns around to see a look of pride from the purple man. "Now then. Let's get some room service shall we?"

* * *

Matt crouched down on the sidewalk and took in a deep breath. He ignored the hundreds of people walking past him, taking pictures with their phones, whispering, gossiping, asking if he was the real deal or just a performer. The young hero drowned all that out and concentrated on a particular scent.

Orchids. More accurately, orchid flavoured perfume that was mixed with Elektra's scent. The trace of faint and he needed to concentrate immensely to detect it but it didn't matter. He needed to find her.

Her perfume was very distinct, she even joked that it would be the perfect tracking device for someone like Matt. How right she was.

He could hear someone being mugged a block away but he ignores their cry for help. Matt refused to be distracted. Even if all he wanted to do right now at that moment was to chase down that mugger.

"God help me," he says, smelling something else in the air. It had a similar aroma to pheromones emitted by some species of insects. But the concentration indicated that the source was more human-sized. And that whatever was spreading it was walking right next to Elektra.

He starts to run, eager to find the source of the two smells. 'Hang on,' he thinks.

* * *

"So your sister Shiva tried protecting you?" Kilgrave asks, eating a few potato chips as he did. Elektra nods. "Right. At least you had her. My parents used to poke needles into my spine. Can you imagine? Of course you can. Apparently, they wanted to replicate my abilities for the good of mankind. But you and I know those good people don't really exist in the real world. Don't we?" He asks her rhetorically.

Elektra sees a cable attach itself to the railings of the hotel's balcony. She looks into his purple eyes and says, "I wouldn't say that."

Matt launches himself into the room with his Billy club and kicks open the balcony doors, alerting Kilgrave of his presence. He was not in the mood for stealth today.

He ties the purple man up with his club which made him fall towards the ground. Kilgrave looks at Elektra. "What the hell are you waiting for? Kill him!"

In that instant, Matt lost track of Elektra's heartbeat. He turns around, trying to detect any minute change in the environment but she knew how to hide from his senses and Kilgrave's pheromones had an overwhelming presence, making it harder for him to concentrate.

Lightning started to fire in Matt's left shoulder as three fingers gripped a nerve cluster. He fell to his knees and yelled in pain, not expecting her to use such an attack. But his armour was negating some of the damage. So he grabs her hand and pushes her into a nearby wall, knocking off a few paintings that were hanging on it.

Elektra shakes her head and sees Matt running towards her. She rolls to the left, dodging a knee to the face which hit the wall, denting it. She grabs Matt by the throat and uses her palm to strike him in the chin, which sent a shock to his system.

She then lowers herself and uses her elbows to hit Matt's knees, making them buckle. He grits his teeth and grabs a handful of her hair, pulling it tightly, which made Elektra wince.

He strikes her multiple times in the gut and face, refusing to let her go, using his superior strength to nullify her speed advantage. Elektra strikes Matt in the neck once more, making his bite wound bleed. The sensation of the hot liquid running down his throat made Matt let go.

The two square off. Both aware that one small mistake could cost them this fight. Kilgrave, sees the two standing still and rolls his eyes. "Bloody hell. Throw him off the building or something," he says, trying to get free of Daredevil's cable.

Matt removes the second Billy club and twirls it between his fingers. "Yeah. Throw me off the building," he says. Elektra smiles and for the first time, listens to Kilgrave's command voluntarily.

She pushes Matt outside, towards the balcony, crushing the broken pieces of a window as they did. He felt himself being hoisted in the air and with a small grunt, Elektra drops Matt off of the building.

Matt felt the air rush past his ears like a train. He aims his Billy club upward and launches his cable. Elektra stands back as Matt grapples back into the room. He hears Kilgrave get free of his bonds and learning from his mistakes, Matt throws the Billy club he had into the British man's throat.

Kilgrave falls over, splitting his lip in the process. Elektra collapses, feeling absolutely winded from her experiences that day. Matt slowly walks towards her and extends a hand and she gladly takes it, getting back up.

"Free that girl in the room. I'll take care of him," he says with a commanding voice. Elektra points a finger violently at Matt.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do," she says angrily, marching off into the bedroom. She cuts the girl free, putting a blanket over her. Trying her best to comfort her.

Matt rubs his head, feeling like a moron for what he said. Kilgrave rolls on the floor and grasps a nearby table, propping himself back up.

He stares at Daredevil but Matt did not give him any time to talk. He leaps into the air, hitting Kilgrave's chest with a front flip kick. The purple man slams against the wall hard, producing an audible bang. Matt could hear a few muscles tear in his enemies body.

Kilgrave, feeling absolutely livid, throws a wild haymaker. Which Matt allows to make contact with his face. But the Brit sprains his wrist when he hits Matt and cries out in pain.

Matt smiles sadistically and lifts the villain up by the throat. He places his fingers at the side of Kilgrave's torso and says. "That's gonna cost you."

Kilgrave inhales sharply as he feels his body being twisted as Daredevil slowly shattered three ribs. Matt then punches him in the solar plexus, completely knocking the air out of Kilgrave's body, damaging his ribs even more as a result.

Matt continues to surgically torture him. With each cracked bone and gasp of pain satisfying the teenager more and more. He was about to use a knife to take out one of Kilgrave's knee caps but stops. Hearing a dry laugh escape his body.

"What's so funny?" Matt asks.

Kilgrave smiles. "You understand it. Don't you? That feeling of control. The way you can make someone your little plaything. It feels good doesn't it?" He says, coughing out a few drops of blood afterwards.

Matt's face sinks when he says that and Kilgrave's smile widens. "It's ok. I understand. You're just like me," he says with a sympathetic tone.

Daredevil snaps and throws him across the room, into a table, making it crumble into splinters as he lands. Kilgrave breathes rapidly, unable to handle the pain. Matt pins him to the ground and starts to punch him in the face.

His fists sliced through the air, tenderising the purple man's face. But with every punch Kilgrave just continued to smile wider and wider. Which only enraged Matt even more. He hits him again, sending teeth flying through torn, purple lips.

Kilgrave's heartbeat was faint and his breathing shallow. Matt was about to hit him one last time but he feels two strong arms holding him back.

"He's not worth it," Elektra says, pulling Matt away from the corpse like body of the purple man. Daredevil tastes the iron from the blood on his hands. He also detects some salt in the air behind him.

Tears.

"I knew you cared," Kilgrave spits out, looking at Elektra. She gives him a look of complete contempt and slowly steps on his jaw, dislocating it entirely.

Matt tears a piece of cloth from the curtain and ties it around Kilgrave's mouth, making it as uncomfortable as humanly possible. Elektra looks at the girl she untied from the bed. The girl she had abused in _his_ name.

She covers her face and leaps out of the building, scaling the nearby rooftops. Matt hears her cat-like footsteps get further away and he sighs.

* * *

He waits a half hour in the room with the girl. Waiting till the authorities came to the hotel. They escort the girl downstairs and restrain Kilgrave, placing a metahuman power dampening collar around his neck.

Matt makes sure that the purple villain was transferred properly to the staff working at Bel Reve. His nostrils flare as Kilgrave winks at him. He starts to walk towards the prison van but the engine spurts back to life and the vehicle drives away.

Daredevil lips twitch but he does not pursue. He shakes the cops hands, saying a few words and grapples away.

He had a girl to find.

* * *

Elektra always considered Central park to be her favourite place in New York. It was like a small garden of Eden in the middle of the concrete jungle. A place where she could just sit down and think. And she had a lot to think about today.

She takes a sip of the hot chocolate that she had bought and closes her eyes. She lets the beverage greet her tongue, the taste calming her nerves.

Elektra's mind wanders to her childhood. Images of a man brandishing a whip filled her conscious. She remembers the fear she and her sister felt whenever he came back home. The searing pain of her flesh being torn off of her back. How Shiva sought to protect her. How they trained together to get stronger. To never be helpless again. A sudden feeling of shame fills her body, remembering how easily the purple man took control of her.

She feels a presence in front of her and opens her eyes, seeing a red-haired boy with a bruised face and cane standing in front of her. She shakes her head and brings herself back to reality, wiping the tears she didn't even realise were streaming down her face.

"Hi," He says.

She looks down. "Hi," she says back.

Elektra shifts herself to the side, allowing Matt to sit beside her. Though there was a notable gap between them.

Matt's fingers start to spasm and he tries to cover his hands. Elektra sees this and notices the bandages around his knuckles. Injuries, she assumed that he gained from hitting Kilgrave so vigorously.

The two sit in silence for some time. The hot chocolate in Elektra's hands cooled and he turns his head towards hers.

"You should've let me kill him," Matt says with a venomous tone. Elektra looks at his steely face and tucks her hair back.

"Maybe. But…."

"But?"

Elektra takes his hands into her own. "You're better than that Matthew. Better than that bastard. Better than me."

He wants to open his mouth to speak. To try and comfort her but no words come out. He has no idea what to say. And neither does she.

Elektra leans into Matt's shoulder and places her head on it. He places his hand on her head, embracing her warmth.

They didn't need to say anything.

Not today.

* * *

 **Well. That was a doozy.**

 **I've been planning on using the purple man for a while now. He was a Daredevil villain before he met Jessica Jones after all.**

 **I wanted to include Jess in this chapter but I felt that it would be disrespectful to what the character represents now in pop culture. A survivor of sexual abuse.**

 **I had no interest in delving too much into that topic since I am horribly ill-equipped to deal with the subject matter.**

 **Anyways. Matt and the team will fight a few killer robots next episode.**

 **Comments I can't PM:**

 **TheKike: It was amazing we will see how Matt is doing with Elektra's father, will you introduce Jessica Jones? If so, do not put the purple man if you know what he did to Jessica, will you also get the kingpin? I wait for the next**

 **Me: Yeah. No Jessica yet. Sorry. Kingpin is someone I plan on using in season 2. If I ever do one.**

 **Hope you guys liked today's chapter. It was quite heavy stuff to write.**

 **All the comments, favourites and follows help immensely. So thanks so much.**

 **Until next time.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Humanity**

 **Happy Harbor, October 10th, 2010:**

Matt's mother used to complain that the apartment smelled like a boy's locker room. Whenever she came home she was always greeted to the repulsive scent of sweat evaporating off of skin. She never failed to find clothes, wet from the sweat of the male members of her family exerting themselves from exercise littered across the floor.

She was never fond of the smell. But to Matt, that smell was a reminder of home. And right now, the cave was filled with it.

Black Canary had the team split off into pairs for a session of heavy sparring. Usually, she would have the teenagers focus on certain skills to use in combat, either individually or as a group.

But for today's session, she wanted them to partake in a paired free for all in order to see where they were all at individually. Kaldur was paired with M'gann, Robin with Artemis and Connor with Matt, who was the only one willing to fight the Kryptonian in a no rules barred match.

Kaldur kept on punching and swiping at M'gann only for the Martian to hover away, rendering his attacks useless. Artemis' more aggressive fighting style was posing some trouble for Robin. The young acrobat wasn't being given any space to use his agility and speed to his advantage, allowing Artemis' greater height and strength to win her most of their bouts.

Matt smiles as he hears Artemis gloat over the fallen boy wonder. An action that Connor did not seem to appreciate. Superboy usually only sweats when fighting opponents who could tear down a building with their bare hands. But for the past few minutes, the clone became drenched in a sea of sweat by launching vicious attacks on Matt. And the blind teenager hadn't any marks to show for it.

If anything Daredevil seemed more relaxed the longer they spared. He had his hands behind his back and his lips were raised up in a small smile. 'He's fighting like I was when I was ten,' Matt thinks.

Connor briefly looks to the left, hearing Captain Marvel fly towards Wally, who was lounging on a collapsible chair. The 'older' hero held a tray with a glass of juice on top of it and handed it over to the speedster who had his fingers shuffling through a bowl of nachos.

Superboy looks back towards where Matt was but saw nothing. Just an empty space. He felt a gloved hand grab him from behind and he was pushed down to the floor, slightly denting the metal underneath.

Matt flips back a dozen feet and points a finger towards his partner. "Never take your eyes off your opponent. Even a weaker one," he says, rubbing the back of his head, nursing a wound he had received the night before from a lucky junkie.

A few feet away, Artemis ducks under Dick's kick. But the younger fighter stands on his hands and extends his legs backwards, hitting Artemis in the head. Her vision momentarily blurs and she instinctively straightens her arm and punches him in the face. Robin hisses in pain as he feels her knuckles cut through the skin on his forehead like a scalpel.

The simulation stops immediately and everyone's attention fell on them.

She rubs her eyes and blinks for a few seconds. Artemis' vision clears and she sees a thin red streak on Robin's forehead and she lets out a small gasp. "I'm so sorry," she says, walking towards him.

"Wait. Let me see," Matt says in a commanding tone. He removes Dick's hand from the wound and moves his head around. Matt's lack of eye contact was still a little unsettling for Robin, despite the helmet on his head. Matt lightly touches the cut and breathes a sigh of relief.

"It's not deep. We'll apply some disinfectant and then a bit of avitene to stop the bleeding. Artemis, get me the med kit," he says. She does as he says and hands him the supplies he needed.

Artemis mouths an apology to Robin who just laughs in response. "It's ok. At least it won't scar over," he says. He has had to become rather creative to explain his constant injuries at school.

"Speaking of scars. That one from a grenade?" She asks, pointing at his arm. Robin looks at the subtle, old wound and his eyes widen in recognition.

"Totally forgot about this. That a land mine?" He asks, gesturing to a few specks on her abdominal muscles.

Artemis nods. "Good call."

"I've never been hit by a grenade," Matt says, finishing off with Dick's treatment.

Robin looks at him with disbelief. "All those scars and you never got hit by a grenade?"

Everyone on the team has seen him topless before and have seen the excess scar tissue all over his body. Matt starts patting several parts of himself.

"Let's see. Explosive arrow. Sword. Sword. Joker acid. Knife. Knife. Another knife. A spear. Vertebrae protrusion. Polar bear. Panther. Crocodile. Hippo. Amazo. This bullet wound from a friend. Fell off my bike when I was six. A dozen or so random ones but no grenades," Matt says, going down memory lane thanks to his old battle scars.

Connor stares at the three and with a straight face tells Matt, "Yeah, you were winning that till you mentioned the bike." M'gann gently slaps his shoulder, softly telling him not to tease Matt.

The members of the team turn their gaze towards a certain redhead raising their cast-covered arm. "Hello. I was injured in combat fighting the Injustice League," Wally says.

With a bemused look, Matt walks towards him and grabs the cast. He hovers an elbow above and drops it down, splitting the cast in half. Matt pulls it off of a struggling Wally, coughing thanks to the dust produced by his stunt. "Your arm healed two days ago. Just wanted to see how long you'd mooch off of cap."

Black Canary and Aqualad look at Wally with disappointed looks and Captain Marvel has a pained expression on his face. The speedster lets out a small and awkward laugh. "In my defense, I had no idea." Artemis angrily marches up towards Wally and smacks him across the head. Making Robin laugh.

"How can you not know you've got super healing?" She asks.

"Hey. I've never broken anything after I got my powers. Not my fault I'm that awesome," he replies with crossed arms.

Seeing an argument starting to brew Black Canary decided to dampen the embers before they spread into a fire. "Anyways. I really enjoyed being your den mother this week," she says, not sure if that title made her sound far older than she actually was.

The zeta tubes start rumbling and a bright yellow light fills the cave. A tall, rakey man in a magicians outfit and hat with a thin, wisp of a moustache entered. " **Recognised Zatara: one one,** " the artificial voice says.

The sorcerer pulls up a holographic screen and types in a few keys. The zeta platform activates again and another figure emerges from the bright light. " **Access granted: Zatanna Zatara: A03.** "

A young girl with raven black hair and bright blue eyes steps into the cave. She wore a short, knee-high blue skirt and a white shirt and black cardigan. She grabs her arm and looks at the team with a shy expression.

"Team. My daughter, Zatanna," says Zatara. Greeting them all to his daughter.

Matt calmly steps forward, wanting to introduce them all individually. A leader must make a good first impression. "Hey. I'm…" he starts. Though he was interrupted abruptly by a very keen Robin.

"Robin! No. I mean. I'm Robin. That's Daredevil, Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann and Connor," Dick says rather quickly after clearing his throat. Matt hears the flutter of his friends heartbeat and could feel the young boys cheeks heating up and flushing.

'Aww. Our little Robin's flying out of the nest. She must be cute,' Matt thinks. Zatanna had the heart rate of a fourteen-year-old. Just a few months older than Dick. 'I am going to lord this over him forever,' Matt thinks, recollecting all the innuendos Robin threw his way when he deduced the level of intimacy between him and Elektra.

"Are you joining the team?" M'gann asks with excitement. Zatanna gives her father and unsure look and he quickly replies.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is strictly a visit. But I am sorry we missed the training. It's something Zatanna could benefit from," Zatara says, directing his speech from Robin to Black Canary.

The two Leaguers continue to speak and M'gann turns towards to team, activating the psychic link. 'Do the rest of you get the impression that we're still on probation with Zatara?' she asks mentally.

'Not just Zatara. I mean, why's Marvel still hanging around?' Connor asks over the link, pointing towards the Captain. Wally smile.

'Because we like having him around,' he says.

Artemis glares at him. ' _You_ like having him around since we waits on you hand and foot.'

'Your point is?' Wally asks mentally.

Matt starts tapping his foot. 'Say what you want about Red Tornado. He wasn't overbearing.'

'One might almost feel nostalgic about his tenure as supervisor,' Kaldur says mentally.

Robin nods in agreement. 'Yeah. At least he trusted us.'

Zatanna notices all their gesturing and puts her hand to her hip. Connor raises his hand in anger after hearing the Androids name.

'If you ignore the fact that he betrayed us and we never should have trusted him! That machine almost got M'g… all of us killed,' he says angrily over the link.

'Has Batman made any progress with the bot hunt?' Matt asks Robin. The boy wonder shakes his head.

"Are you guys having a psychic conversation? Cus I'm not sure if that's cool or really rude," Zatanna says with an annoyed look. The team look at her with surprised looks with Robin noting the rejection on her face. The adult heroes look at them expectantly.

Connor sees them and decides to confess. "Fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the League hasn't told us anything."

"The League is searching for Tornado and the other androids who invaded the cave. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority," Black Canary says.

Robin steps forward. "But you've found none of the above."

"Not. Yet. But Tornado is Justice League. That makes him our responsibility," she replies sternly. Zatara looks at the teenagers.

"Why don't you take Zatanna on a tour… of the uhm… Cave? He says with trepidation. Not wanting to aggravate the situation any further.

The team notice her missing and turn around, hearing a low rumble from Wolf. Zatanna was lying next to the large canine, rubbing him behind the ears.

Captain Marvel flies in with a new plate of nachos. "A tour? Cool," he says. Connor quickly walks in front of him.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise. We'll join you in a few," Connor says kindly.

Eager to please, the good Captain agrees immediately and flies away, calling Wolf away from the team. Nachos in hand.

Wally drools at the sight of his food being taken away. "But my nachos," he says, whining. Connor grabs him by the collar and drags him away, rubbing some of the texture off of his shoes.

"Robin. The EMP ready?" Matt asks, leading the group towards the hanger.

"Just need to attach the vacuum tubes to the main power supply and she'll be good to go," Robin says. Wally nods, trying to pull himself together, knowing that he would be needed to complete the EMP.

Zatanna walks next to Robin, now wearing a pink tank top and white tracksuits. He looks at her in utter disbelief. "How did you? But you're…" Robin says with a stutter.

"We're not really taking a tour are we?" Zatanna asks Daredevil with a bored tone of voice. They all stop and Connor turns his head back.

"No. We're going after that robot."

Matt and Kaldur nod in agreement. "He attacked us. He's ours," Matt says.

A playful smirk appears on Zatanna's face. "Wow. Out loud and everything."

An equally playful smile finds its way on Robin's face. But Artemis' face was one of slight concern.

"What about the new girl?"

Robin shrugs his shoulders and looks at her. "I'm sure she won't tell."

Zatanna turns around and looks him dead in the eye. "I can't tell. Not if you kidnap me," she says in a faux whisper.

"Yeah. She's gonna fit in great," Artemis says. Impressed with the girl's quick-witted attitude.

* * *

Captain Marvel shakes the large tree trunk in front of Wolf again. He whistles and throws it like a stick towards Mount Justice. "Fetch," he says, pointing at the trunk.

But Wolf was busy, liking the plate clean of Wally's nachos. "Come on. Fetch. Please," Captain Marvel pleads, trying to pry him away from the food.

The two were too busy, with each other to notice the Bioship flying hundreds of feet above them in a cloaked state. Matt hears the captain's plight and suppresses a small snigger.

'Time for jokes later,' he thinks. Robin and Kid Flash walk out of the storage compartment of the ship and take their seats, allowing the organic seat belts to envelop their chests. Robin gives Matt the thumbs up from behind and he nods in response, not bothering to turn around.

Zatanna sees this and makes a mental note. Her father always said that the smallest actions give you the most insight into a person.

M'gann receives a communication alert from the cave and she activates it. "M'gann. The Bioship wasn't authorized for departure," Black Canary says.

"We're kidnapping Zatanna. T- To show her around Happy Harbor. Be back soon," she tells Canary in a cheerful tone. Matt smacks his head. He prays that Black Canary would be lenient today.

"Roger that. Have fun," she says with a hint of doubt in her voice, cutting off communication with the ship. Zatara looks at Canary with dread.

"I did not give permission-"

Black Canary stops her colleague mid-sentence and places a gentle hand on his shoulder. "They're good kids Giovanni. Trustworthy kids. Don't worry," she says turning around. A worried look morphs across her face.

* * *

"Ok. Batman is the world's greatest detective. He'd have searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're gonna do better we need an illogical solution" Robin says, stroking his chin. His widen and he turns around to face Wally. "A truly dumb idea."

Everyone stares at him and Wally looks around awkwardly. "As a matter of fact. I've got a theory."

* * *

"Ivo? That's your plan? What, you think super evil robot makers meet up in a convention every summer?" Daredevil asks Kid Flash angrily. Wally raises his hands defensively.

"He's the only guy who's on the same level as Morrow in the Android biz. Who else is gonna keep tabs on him? Wally says.

Connor voices his opinion. "It's worth a shot. Warden Strange owes us after me and M'gann stopped that breakout in Belle Rev."

Matt lets out a small snarl. He recalls his fight with Amazo. The sound of its gyros turning and crushing bone and metal. The scent of burning wood and toasted flesh. The sound of Ivo's breath as Matt almost choked him to death in Gotham. The taste of the blood of Jessica Jones' family.

"Might be fun," he says sadistically, cycling through all the forms of torture he could perform on Ivo.

Aqualad shakes his head. "I think it best if you stayed aboard the ship. Any sign of physical harassment and the warden is within his rights to kick us out of the prison, nullifying the chance of us extracting information from Ivo."

"Besides, M'gann can go through his head. We'll know if he has anything useful," Robin adds. He knows that the events of Amazo's attack are still fresh in the back of Matt's mind. You never forget your first major solo supervillain fight. Especially if the League gets involved. Though he wasn't sure if Bullseye counted or not.

"Am I missing something?" Zatanna asks, looking around. Robin straightens his hand and shakes it side to side.

"Kinda. It's a long story."

"We'll fill you in on the way. M'gann set a course for Belle Reve," Matt says breathing in and out. Trying to control his anger. His fantasies of dislocating every joint in Ivo's body would have to satisfy his vengeance.

* * *

The Bioship hovers above the massive prison complex like a shimmer of light. Matt sits inside it with an irritated pout and crossed arms. If this were Hell's Kitchen, he would have just snuck into his cell and start to throw Ivo around like a bowling ball till he started talking.

But he was with the Team and with that came certain responsibilities. He needed to set a good example and succumbing to rage wasn't an admirable quality for any leader.

Matt hears his team's heartbeats enter a confined room. Where they are joined by two unknown rhythms, which Matt assumed to be security guards.

A small heartbeat enters the room and Matt's knuckles whiten as he clenches his fists. Recognising the owner of the sound.

Doctor Ivo.

The red-haired dwarf sat in a metal chair and crosses his legs atop a metal table. Smugly staring at the young heroes.

"Warden Strange owes us a favour for stopping the prison break last month. He's given us five minutes," M'gann tells Ivo in a stern voice, both arms straight against the table. Connor looms over the two, like a restless dog.

"Spill Ivo. How do we find TO Morrow and his reds?" Connor asks impatiently.

Ivo leans back in his chair with a neutral expression. "Now why would I know that?"

Wally chimes in. "Because, and here's a truly dumb idea. You're Morrow's biggest competition in the Android game. Who better to keep tabs on his whereabouts?"

"You make a good point. Let me rephrase. Why would I tell you anything about Morrow?" Ivo says, looking around the room. "I notice Daredevil isn't here. It's a shame. They've got a free cell in H-Block for sadists like him." He says, fingering his collar. He still had marks from when Matt choked him.

'You've got three more minutes. Make then count,' Matt tells the team over the link. He cracks his knuckles, itching for an excuse to attack Ivo.

Aqualad walks next to Miss Martian. "He knows. Do it." Her eyes glow green as she places her hands on her temples. Ivo feels the psychic intrusion and laughs.

"You think you're the first telepath I've encountered?" He asks.

Zatanna walks next to Ivo and leans next to him. "Trulb tuo S'worrom eurt noitacol," she says, her incantation echoing across the room.

Ivo straightens up. "Morrow is in a base underneath Yellowstone national park. One hundred metres south of Old Faithful," he blurts out as if he was reading from a script.

He covers his mouth immediately and looks at Zatanna in shock. The rest of the team, Matt included shared that same expression. Robin stands on his toes to look above his taller teammates, trying to get a better view.

'We… got what we came for? I think. Get back to the Bioship,' Matt tells them over the link. Too distracted by what Zatanna just pulled off to even think straight.

"I should totally pick that up. Saves time on torture," he tells himself out loud. The Bioship vibrates in response. "Yeah. Wouldn't be as fun."

* * *

Miss Martian flies the ship towards Yellowstone in stealth mode. They fly over a series of hills and mountains underneath a grey sky.

"Block out any external communications. I'm guessing Bats, Canary and Zatara know about our visit," Matt instructs the team.

Robin swivels his seat in Zatanna's direction. "Look. I'm trying to be all nonchalant here."

Zatanna gives him a lighthearted smirk. "Why? Be as chalant as you like." Robin returns the smile.

"I think we just want to get a handle on your powers. Could you teleport us to Morrow's lair? Or make his bots surrender?" Artemis asks.

"Or create world peace? Even Zatara can't do that. And I'm nowhere near on my dad's level. I need to know a spell fully. Or have time to prep it. Besides, all magic requires energy and the usually comes from within," she says. She breathes in, taking in every bit of mystical energy she could. Matt felt a change in the air. The telltale signs of magic.

"My master tried teaching me some magic," Matt says, offhandedly.

Wally, ever the sceptic turns his chair around to question Matt. "And how did that work out for you?"

Matt blushes. "You know. The usual. A few fires. A couple of broken bones and I might have turned a police officer into a pig. Wasn't really my thing."

Robin and Wally start laughing hysterically and Matt rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. Connor scowls hearing this and leans forward in his seat. "What's our ETA to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff tornado into a trash compactor."

"You really think he betrayed us?" Matt asks, crossing his arms.

"Don't you?" Connor asks angrily.

Matt shakes his head. "He could have betrayed us dozens of times before. Plus, he's a machine. Maybe he was reprogrammed."

"You shouldn't let vengeance cloud your judgment. Perhaps, he deserves the opportunity to prove that he wasn't the weapon his creators designed him to be," Aqualad says, directing his speech to Superboy. Connor looks down on the floor, lamenting his time in Project Cadmus. How the G-gnomes filled his head with the urge to fight. The urge to replace Superman. His father.

Matt hears the ground burst and rocks shatter below. He hears steam and water erupt from the earth and he gestures to M'gann. "Set us down there. A flatbed ground and no geysers." She acknowledges the order and lowers the ship's altitude, setting her down were Matt said. The tall trees would further hide their presence. The bay doors expand downwards, forming a near-invisible ramp for the teenagers to walk down. They get off of their seats and Aqualad presses the logo on his belt, making his red costume a dark grey. "Activate stealth mode," he says.

Kid Flash, Artemis and M'gann nod and do the same, Wally touching the lightning bolt on his chest, Artemis doing the same with her arrow logo and M'gann using her shapeshifting powers. Matt talks to Robin, making sure that the EMP can be activated remotely. "It's got a range of half a mile. Should be fine," Robin says, taking a final look at the device. The Bioship would power it and her tech would be unaffected since she was organic.

They start walking down the ramp and Matt hears Zatanna's footsteps behind him. He turns around, "If you're coming with us you might want to wear something more… tactical." She looks down at her casual wear and smiles.

"Emit ot yrt tuo eht wen kool," she says, her words echoing in his ears. A cloud of smoke surrounds her like a serpent and Matt could feel her skin being covered with a series of new fabrics. Her costume looked like a feminine version of her father's outfit. With a white shirt, bow tie and gloves, a low cut yellow vest, a black blazer, black mini-shorts with grey stockings and black boots reaching midway up her calves.

While he couldn't see what she was wearing he could perceive the confidence radiating from the young magician. "Good. Artemis, stay with her. Keep her out of trouble."

Zatanna scoffs at that statement. "Shouldn't have let me tag along if that's on the agenda," she says casually, placing a hand on her hip. Daredevil looks down on her and gives her a disapproving gaze which made her pipe down. "Stay behind us and don't go on the front lines. If Aqualad or I order you to do something, you do it without question. No sass or cute comebacks. You understand me?" he asks sternly. Zatanna nods slowly. He pats her on the shoulder, smiling slightly and walks out of the ship, strapping his swords behind his back.

Artemis grasps her arm and gently takes her out of the Bioship and away from Matt. "He's like a mini-Batman when he wants to be. Kinda freaky," she says, shuddering. Matt could be joking around one minute and be dead serious the next. That always kept her on edge.

The Team run through the woods as quietly as possible. Matt could feel streams of boiling hot water running miles below them like a subway system. He hears some mechanical whirring in the trees above and communicates to everyone via the psychic link.

'Hidden cams in the trees. Tornado and friends are watching us.'

Robin sighs, 'So much for stealth,' he thinks.

They run for a few more minutes until Matt raises a fist. They all stop behind him and he kneels down, placing his hand on the ground. 'Something's down there. Large, spacious and filled with wires. Guess Ivo's intel was spot on,' he thinks. They all make their way out of the woods into a barren, dust-covered field. A large gust of wind stops them in their tracks, blinding them with a cloud of dust.

One by one each member is taken off their feet, forced backwards by the howling wind. Even Superboy couldn't stay planted and was being forced back. The source of the current revealed itself.

Red Tornado. Hovering himself above the ground with self-generated twisters. He raises his hand and the Team find themselves surrounded by funnels of wind. Trapped within this sea of vortexes.

M'gann looks around and sees that the tornados were burrowing into the ground, forming patterns in the soil and rock. She levitates herself upward to get a better view and sees what Tornado was writing in the ground.

'Play dead,' M'gann says over the link. The others look at her with confused looks.

'What? Why?' Robin asks mentally.

She points to the tornados surrounding them. 'He's sending us a message. Writing it in the ground. He wants us to play dead.'

'Look at him. If he wanted to he could have sucked the air out of our lungs by now. He's probably trying to help. I say we fake fight him, have him pretend to knock us out and we'll see what happens next,' Matt says over the link.

'Just use the EMP,' Connor thinks.

Robin shakes his head. 'Negative. We don't know where the other Red's are. It takes an hour to recharge the EMP. We can't waste it on one android.'

'Guys. Let's do it,' Matt thinks.

'Message received,' M'gann replies.

"Nail him," Superboy cries out, running towards the android. Aqualad follows behind him.

"Superboy. Manoeuvre seven," Aqualad says. Connor bends down slightly and cups his hands together. Kaldur leaps and takes a step on his hands and Superboy boosts Kaldur high into the air. Aqualad extends his fists, going in to punch Tornado but the android was faster, countering Kaldur with a punch of his own.

Aqualad plummets to the ground below and Superboy catches him, though he falls over from the force. Robin, Daredevil and Artemis come in. Firing their projectiles towards Red Tornado. The android spreads his arms, sending a burst of wind out in front of him, sending the flurry of weaponry back towards the three.

Artemis' explosive arrows activate when impacting the ground, knocking out the three heroes. Wally sees this and stands up, "You aren't the only spin doctor around," he tells Tornado. He extends his arms and starts to spin around, creating a small, grey vortex that was spiralling up towards Tornado.

Red Tornado turns around, hearing Miss Martian fly behind him. He grabs her and throws her into Kid Flash's twister. She hits Wally and the two bounce off of the ground. Zatanna could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. She tries to utter a spell but she stumbles. Her tongue feeling tied and twisted. Tornado lowers himself to her level and grabs her by the throat.

Zatanna's vision turns black and Red Tornado drops her unconscious form down. He crosses his arms and lets the tornados surrounding the teenagers to fade away, though he was still hovering in the air with the spiral below his waist.

A larger Android, more crimson than red elevated himself to Tornados altitude by erecting a pillar of the earth under his feet. "Quite the performance brother. But it was just that wasn't it? A performance?" he asks rhetorically. He extends his arm and levitates a large patch of earth in front of Tornado. Some text was visible. 'PLAY DEAD.'

"I have all your memories Tornado. Plus a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do," Red Volcano says. The Team get up, realizing that their cover was blown. "Blowing a message into the sand?" he asks in a disappointed tone. Volcano closes his fists and shatters the giant piece of land. Sending hundreds of rocks at the team like bullets.

Aqualad forms a pair of swords with his water bearers and leaps after Superboy. The two superhumanly strong boys start pounding away at the large rocks, reducing most of them to dust. The ones that got past them were avoided by the rest of the Team.

M'gann used her telekinesis to redirect the blocks away from her. Daredevil grabs Zatanna and moves the both of them out of the path of a car sized rock. Robin rolls to the side to avoid getting squished and coughs out some sand from his mouth.

'Zatanna? DD?' he asks over the link. The two walk past the rock to acknowledge Robin.

'We're fine. But Red Tornado's getting away,' Zatanna says, pointing towards the android. Who was flying away with a twister behind him.

Artemis notches an arrow in her bow and looks up. 'Is he abandoning us?' she asks mentally.

'Doesn't matter. We need to engage the threat right in front of us,' Matt says, drawing his sword. Wally runs up Volcano's stone pillar. The android sees this and waits for the speedster to get closer. As Kid Flash reaches Volcano, the android grabs his arm and punches him away.

"You don't stand a chance against me, humans," he says. M'gann flies towards him, with Superboy leaping right behind her.

"We're not human," they say in unison. Red Volcano raises his hands and the ground below begins to rumble. Two hands like constructs made of earth raise up and ensnare the two aliens. "I apologize. The properly inclusive term is _meat bags_ ," he says. Connor rolls into a ball, hiding M'gann beneath him. The earthly hands crumble and the two fall down, with M'gann softening their landing with her powers.

'We can't beat this guy in a straight fight. Robin, the EMP ready?' Matt asks over the link.

'The Bioship needs to get a bit closer for it to work. What about the other bots?' Robin asks Matt mentally.

Daredevil shakes his head. 'We're being slaughtered by that thing. We'll send a signal to the League. They'll take care of the others.' Matt places his finger on his ear to activate his communicator but hears only static.

'Jammers. We're on our own,' he informs the Team telepathically.

Volcano waves his arm and a giant scar tears across the ground. Artemis and Aqualad feel the earth beneath them shift and they start falling into a canyon. Volcano brings his arms together and Artemis sees the walls of the canyon slowly closing.

She fires a rope arrow upwards and Kaldur grabs onto the line. She wings up and the two reach the solid ground before the walls closed on them. Robin runs up a large, protruding rock and throws an explosive disk at Volcano.

The android casually raises a hand and catches the device with two fingers. The disk explodes and covers Volcano in shrapnel and smoke. But he remains unharmed. "Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to predict your every move," he says.

"Emoks emoceb a dlofdnilb," Zatanna says. The incantation making her voice echo across the battlefield. The smoke surrounding Volcano forms a solid band that wrapped itself over his eyes.

"Tornado didn't know any of my moves," she says.

Robin jumps down next to her. "Yeah. I bet you have some really good ones," he says. A look of shock forms on his face as Zatanna turns to look at him. "Woah. That came off a little bit too Wally," he says, trying to defend himself.

"I don't mind," she says casually. Giggling seeing the expression on his face.

Matt leaps in front of the two and slices a rock that was launched towards them in half. "Not trying to be a buzz kill here but we really need that EMP Rob!" he tells the young acrobat in an alarmed tone.

Robin opens the holographic display on his wrist and sees that the Bioship was seconds away from being in range. 'Alright. EMP in three, two, one,' he thinks over the link, pressing a few buttons.

The air around Matt started to feel strange. He could feel the hairs on his body straighten and could taste the electricity in the air as if he was licking an oversized battery. Volcano could feel his internal mechanisms start to falter and he struggled to stay upright.

Matt could hear the turmoil inside his body and removes his Billy Club. He launches a line up to the top of Volcanos pillar and scales it, reaching the android in seconds. Feeling a large heat source in his chest Matt drew his enchanted sword and drove it right into Red Volcano's main power supply.

The androids limbs froze and his eye like cameras stopped moving. Matt slowly slid the sword out of Volcano and back into its sheath. He was about to disembark from the pillar but turns around, hearing the electricity coursing in Volcano's body.

Matt was suddenly lifted by the throat and Volcano looked him dead in the eye. "You should've aimed for my head. Unlike my siblings, I'm partially shielded from electromagnetic attacks. And have a secondary power supply." He headbutts Matt and throws him down like a used rag.

Daredevil flops on the ground and rolls on his belly. He stands up and feels the area that he was standing on getting hotter and hotter. The ground starts to boil and glow a bright orange. Matt runs backwards and Red Volcano forms a moat of burning lava around his pillar.

Red Volcano fires a laser into the air and the mountain behind him erupts, activating the dormant volcano of Yellowstone. Matt screamed in pain and covers his ears. The eruption was like having a ton of dynamite explode right next to him.

Lava pours down from the volcano and the Team divert their focus from fighting the android to simply staying alive and avoiding the lava. Wally runs past a molten river and recognizes the way in which the volcano was erupting.

'That's a stage two eruption. He gets to stage three, kiss the hemisphere goodbye,' Wally says on the link.

Matt's radar sense could detect Red Volcano's metal chassis expanding and contracting. His eyes widen as an idea pops into his head. 'Zatanna. Can you freeze up that lava?'

'Maybe some but not all of it. Why?' she asks.

'He's made of metal. His body's expanding and contracting cus of the heat. If we dunk him into some of that lava and cool him down, he'll shatter like glass,' Matt says mentally.

Wally scratches his head. 'Isn't that what happens in the second Terminator?' he asks incredulously.

Matt shrugs. 'I am open to suggestions right now,' he thinks, narrowly avoiding a blast of lava.

'Robin and Daredevil should get behind him and fire your lines. Superboy, you pull him back when that's done. The rest of us will distract him,' Aqualad says, forming a shield and sword with his bearers.

The Team nod, understanding their responsibilities. Superboy, Robin and Daredevil run around the pillar. M'gann levitates some rocks and throws them at Volcano, who stops them mid-air and closes his fist, reducing them to pebbles.

Artemis fires arrows at him but they merely distract him. Which is what she was going for. Aqualad forms a large mace with both his bearers and starts pounding away at the stone pillar that Red Volcano was standing on. The android falls to the ground and Aqualad jumps out of the way of the debris.

"Skcor fo hcnub a ni mih part," Zatanna says. Red Tornado finds that he was unable to move as the rocks around him encase him like a cacoon. He breaks through it like it was paper and turns around. He sees two cables being launched towards him and catches them in both hands.

Robin and Daredevil hand their cables over to Superboy, who pulls on them with all his strength. Volcano is sent flying in his direction and Connor punches the machine in the chest, a satisfied grin on his face.

Volcano falls into a shallow pit of lava and his sensors warned him that his external chassis was melting. The dent in his chest thanks to Superboy only made the matter even worst. He gets up and steps out of the molten rock. Wally runs behind him and spins his arms around, creating a vortex that was blowing the android back.

Zatanna raises her hands and lets out a spell. "Nwod mih looc," she says. Kid Flash's mini cyclones now had a blue tinge. Matt's teeth clattered as he felt the temperature suddenly drop. The lava that was covering Red Volcano instantly cools down. His metal body started to moan like a sinking ship. His crimson surface turns a dark purple and any light on his body dims.

He falls to his knees and his eyes stop working. "I. I. Can. Can. Cannot. See. I cannot see. I cannot…" Red Volcano says. His voice box malfunctioning and a synthetic confusion was clear from his speech.

Connor grabs Volcano's head and crushes it like a soda can. He rips it off with a grunt and kicks the rest of his body back into the lava, allowing it to melt away. Wally runs up to the clone and snatches the head before it met the same fate.

"Souvenir," he says with a smile, running away from Connor.

The Team almost fall back as the ground vibrates like never before. The volcano shoots out a plume of smoke, blacker than the darkest night sky. Wally sees the top of the volcano collapsing and panics.

"We're almost at stage three. If that thing goes off we're looking at a nuclear winter," he yells out. Virtually pulling the hair from his head.

Matt feels the air around him shifting and tilts his head up. He smiles. 'Look who decided to show up,' he thinks over the link.

The rest of the Team look up and see Red Tornado along with Red Torpedo and Red Inferno. Tornado looks at the volcano and hovers above it. His arms shake as he generates a massive tornado that covers the entire mountain. He sucks all the gas from the volcano and reduces its internal pressure. He sends the tornado upwards and allows the smoke to harmlessly float away into space.

Red Tornado flies down and the twister keeping him aloft starts to falter. He starts falling and was seconds away from landing in the same lava pit as Red Volcano.

Connor launches himself towards the Android and grabs him. Saving Tornado from sharing his brother's fate.

Superboy looks at Tornado as well as his siblings and sighs. He had many questions.

* * *

Wally and Robin were busy replacing Red Tornado's voice box and were repairing any damage he might have received after he stopped the volcano from erupting. The android was lying on his back, on something that resembled an operating table.

Connor still eyed Inferno and Torpedo suspiciously. They almost killed him and M'gann only a few weeks ago. But they didn't attack him or the Team so he stayed away from them for now, standing on the opposite side of the lab.

Conversely, Matt stayed as close to the two androids as humanly possible, sword drawn. He was ready to cut them down if they posed any trouble. Though, imagining ways of dismantling the androids was the only thing that kept him from falling asleep since he was bored beyond reason hearing all the technical nonsense Robin and Wally were spitting out.

Tornado's faceplate closes. "I can speak again," he says. His mechanical voice was oddly pleasant for the Team to hear again.

"You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save the planet," Aqualad says.

Red Tornado turns his head to face the Atlantean. "The planet would have survived. It was humanity that was saved," he says. His siblings nod, not sure why Aqualad would make such a basic error of speech.

"What he means is that you were never the mole. You never meant to betray us," Matt says.

"No. I left to protect you from further attack and to find my creator. Morrow," Tornado says.

Matt hears Wally and Robin fumbling around with Red Volcanos spare parts. "Hey Red. We could upgrade you," Dick says.

"Yeah. We can make you way stronger with this stuff," Wally adds.

Red Tornado shakes his head. "No. Those belonged to my brother. Even though he was on the side of evil, I have no wish to desecrate his body."

Artemis jabs Matt in the arm. "What about those guys?" she asks. Pointing to Red Inferno and Red Torpedo.

"Not sure. Maybe they join the League?" Matt says.

"We have no wish to engage in hero work any longer," Red Inferno says.

Torpedo nods in agreement. "Though we still wish to aid others. But perhaps on a smaller scale."

"Guys firefighting's heroic too," Matt says, semi-jokingly.

Connor uncrosses his arms and turns towards Tornado. "Why'd you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?"

"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep. I have no secret identity or second life to maintain."

"But you do have advanced AI programming. Designed to learn, adapt and evolve," Wally says, playing with Red Volcanos crushed head. Which he hides behind him when he sees Tornado staring at him.

M'gann slaps herself on the forehead. "Hello, Megan. You wanted to become more human."

"And you couldn't do that with the League. They're stiffs," Artemis says.

Robin smirks. "You're sure not gonna learn emotions from Batman. Trust me."

"He put me in a choke hold when I patted his shoulder once. Hurt for a week," Matt says, rubbing his arm.

Aqualad turns towards Tornado. "So the cave was as much a proving ground for you as it was for us."

"I do not know if these statements are accurate. But perhaps they are true. And if I understand the term correctly, I believe I have come to. Care. For you all," Tornado says.

Connor looks at him with a soft expression. "See. Practically a meatbag already."

* * *

The Team was aboard the Bioship, flying back towards the cave beneath the night sky. The Reds flew off to see T.O Morrow one last time. Matt was busy cleaning his swords and tightening his Billy clubs. Wally was still examining Red Volcanos parts and Robin was tapping his feet, wondering what to say to Zatanna.

'Hey, M'gann. Mind giving me and Rob a private link?' Matt asks. She nods and her eyes glow green.

'She's a girl. Not a monster. Talk to her like a normal person and you'll be fine,' Matt tells Dick over the link.

He gulps. 'That's it?'

'Yeah. She's not the kind of girl to fall for crappy catchphrases.'

Robin swivels his chair around give her a goofy smile. "S-so. Good kidnapping?"

She turns around and touches his hand. "Actually, yeah. Best ever." She says playfully.

"First of many, I hope," Robin says.

Zatanna turns around, "That's if my dad doesn't ground me for life."

000000

"You are grounded for life! I bring you here to spend time with children your age. And what do you do? You end up disobeying my wishes and fight a robot that was about to end the world as we know it! Do you realize how irresponsible that was? Did you even think about how I would feel if something happened to you?" Zatara says with a mix of emotions. Anger, sadness, relief. They were all present.

Zatanna looks down to the floor and closes her eyes, trying not to cry. "I'm sorry."

"No. I am sorry. Sorry for bringing you here. I'll make sure that you never join this Team as long as you live!" he says.

Matt steps inbetween them. "It was my decision to bring her along sir. If anyone needs to be punished, it's me."

Zatara shakes his head. "Your responsibility is admirable but she chose to go with you. I cannot allow that to pass."

"With all due respect sir. She was instrumental in beating a guy that almost caused a global extinction. You're basically punishing her for doing the thing you trained her for. I can't let that happen. So take your anger out on me," Matt says, with his hands behind his back.

Zatanna looks at him with surprise. The rest of the Team walk next to Matt, furthering the gap between her and Zatara. The older sorcerer calms down and rubs his forehead. He looks towards Black Canary. "We'll discuss this later. Zatanna, say goodbye to your friends. It will be some weeks before we return here," he says.

The two walk towards the zeta tubes and a bright light emerges behind them. With a small smile, Zatanna gives Robin a small wave. The boy wonder nods his head, letting her know he saw it. The two magician's teleport home and Matt lets out a small cry.

"Wow. That was intense."

Black Canary looks at the Team. "Get yourselves back home. We don't want to keep your guardians waiting." She would have grilled them out herself but after being on the receiving end of Zatara's anger herself, she felt more than a little sympathy for the teens. Even a little bit proud, after seeing them stand up for Zatanna.

"You two are adorable," Matt says, rubbing Robin's hair.

"Who?" Wally asks absent mindedly, prompting Artemis to smack him across the head.

"How slow can you possibly be?" she asks.

Wally rubs his head and raises a brow. "What? What's happening? Rob?"

"That's classified," Dick says.

They all Zeta back to their respective cities and a thought crosses Matt's mind. He had something to do.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, October 11th, 2010:**

The scent of dried blood and bleach entered Matt's nostrils. He could hear monitors beeping children screaming. He could taste all kinds of drugs being jabbed in the veins of a countless number of people. Stale lunches were digesting inside tired bodies and many men and women were soiling their pants while lying down.

Matt hated hospitals. Though not for the horrors they wrecked upon his senses. But because they reminded of him the worst moments of his life.

The day he went blind. The day his grandmother died. The day his father died and his mother fell to a coma.

And today. He was here for the latter.

Bruce had been taking care of her hospital bills. Using a legal loophole or two to provide unrestricted care for Miranda Murdock. But coma patients rarely ever wake up. Regardless of the care, they received.

Matt hasn't visited her since his father's funeral. He didn't feel like it helped anyone. Not her and certainly not him. But after hearing that Red Tornado wanted to visit his 'father' something clicked inside Matt.

If a machine could show some common decency, then he had no right not to do the same. He sits next to her mother, hearing her breathing being helped by a ventilator. He hears the ECG beeping to the beat of her heart.

"Those things are really inaccurate, you know. I mean, I think so anyway," Matt says, holding his mother's cold, pale hands.

"What's new? Well, I'm a superhero. Have been for a while now. Pretty sure I started a month before… this. I'm actually leading an entire Team. Kid Flash, Robin, Aqualad. Pretty much every junior superhero. It's pretty cool actually," he says. He lets out a small laugh.

"I have a girlfriend now. Yeah me. Who would have thought? It's pretty serious. I think. Not that I've got anything else to compare it to. She's nice. For an assassin anyway. You would've liked her," he says, blushing.

His hands tremble and he bows his head. "Dad's gone. Mark and I are living in this little, damp cave. We get robbed every other week. Though Mark fights them off with like one hand. It doesn't happen as much now. Money's tight. Mark can barely pay rent and we'd be loaded once he fights the champ but you know how it is. Managers and promoters haggling over the fighters and venues. It'll be a while before the fight."

"I'm… I'm sorry. I should have been faster. Should have gotten their before… Well, that guy's dead now. I didn't do it but I would do anything to strangle that man like he did to you."

He shakes his head and wipes the tears from his eyes. "But I'm not that guy anymore. I'll make you proud mom. I promise."

Matt wipes his face and walks out of the room. He allows the horrific smells and sounds to enter his consciousness again. He'd rather feel that pain than whatever it was he felt when he thought about his mother.

* * *

 **That was that.**

 **Once again. This was one of those chapters were Matt couldn't do much to physically change the outcome but I hope the changes I made were satisfactory.**

 **I won't be updating for a month since I've got exams coming up and I really, really need to study for them. So we'll have to catch up with Matt, Elektra and our guys at the Hand a little bit later I'm afraid.**

 **Thanks to all the comments and follows and favourites. Really helps me out.**

 **Now to comment on the comments that I cannot PM:**

 **TheKike: Very good, although the purple man is a hated character in the comics for what he did to Jessica, I also hope his appearance something else, Jessica also goes to the same school as Matt, next**

 **Me: I'm not sure if we'll see Kilgrave or Jess again. Don't really have anything planned for those two.**

 **TheKike: Another thing, you have to wake up Matt's mother. I win it, when you put Jessica in the story, you can make her feel something for, Matt would be fun**

 **Me: Thanks for the other review. Well, she has a place in the story but we won't be seeing that for a while now.**

 **Thanks, guys. See you later.**

 **May the 4** **th** **be with you. (In certain parts of the world where it's the fourth)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Rage and blood:**

 **Beijing, China, October 10th, 2010:**

"I don't believe you," Steel Serpent says, eyeing Bullseye suspiciously with crossed arms.

"How much you willing to bet?" The Irishman asks, looking through a scope. Davos rolls his eyes behind his mask, staring at the toothpick between Bullseye's teeth.

"The usual," Davos says.

The assassin sees an elderly Chinese woman with her hair tied in a bun, wearing expensive rings on her skeletal fingers through his scope. He adjusts it and zooms in on her face, seeing a mole. "You see that spot on her face?"

"You're not seriously suggesting you can hit her mole from up here? We're almost a half mile away," Davos says, looking through the scope. Bullseye gives him a coy smile.

"Alright. Let's see then," Davos says.

Bullseye nods. He removes the toothpick from his mouth and raises it above his head. He continues to look through the scope and moves the pick back and forth in his hand. He grits his teeth and sees the woman moving towards the left.

He flicks the toothpick and the piece of wood travels between the buildings and penetrates the glass window; piercing the woman's mole. Davos peers through the scope and sees the target convulsing on the floor after another toothpick enters her throat. "One of these days I'll win one of our little wagers."

Davos removes a few gold coins and hands them to Bullseye. "As if, mate. Oh, look. Security."

They look up and see men wearing some kind of power armour, with jetpacks hovering above them. "Well. Our master asked us to make a spectacle," Davos says, balling his fists. Bullseye leans back, waiting for the armoured men to attack.

The four land and as they do, Davos extends his hands and three helmets shatter from the force of his punches in less than a second. Bullseye throws a stone into the barrel of the final man's gun and Davos straightens his leg, kicking the armoured soldier hard enough to make him fly off of the side of the building.

"I expect our message is clear?" Davos asks the remaining men. They nod in fear, despite their helmets cutting their faces as they did.

"We will give you that land. We swear," their captain says in broken English. Davos grabs the man by the leg and drags him towards the edge of the building. The captain finds himself dangling over twenty stories above the ground.

"Is that a guarantee?"

The captain nods ferociously, far too shocked to let out a scream. Davos throws him back onto the roof. By the time the men look up both Davos and Bullseye had disappeared.

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, October 10th, 2010:**

"Turn right!" Elektra says, grabbing her seat with a strong grip. Her voice consumed with alarm.

"I know. I know," Matt says as he turns the steering wheel. The wheels of the car squeal like a cat as the rubber from the tires peel against the tarmac. Matt frantically adjusts the wheel to try and steady the car and Elektra does her best not to scream.

She turns towards Matt. "He's getting away Matthew," she says, mist forming in her mouth thanks to the cold air.

He growls. "I know," Matt presses down on the accelerator and shifts gears, making the car travel even faster. Elektra removes her sai and lowers her window.

"Lakshmi. Get ready," she says, climbing out the window and onto the roof of the car.

"Acknowledged," a female voice says in their ears. Matt weaves between a few other cars on the road, causing a few of them to hit each other as they slammed their brakes.

He tilts his neck to the side. "Sorry," he shouts out. He grits his teeth as he feels the car jerk violently as he drives up on a sidewalk. He hears a clear, mechanical whirring and drives off of the sidewalk and back onto the road, nearly making Elektra fall off the top of the car.

She grunts and her heart skips a beat as her feet slip and she slides down onto the windshield and onto the hood of the car. "Why did I let you drive?" she shouts out. She stands up as her target approaches.

The man was encased in a metal suit. His legs were powered by advanced hydraulics that allowed him to expand and increase their length at will: to traverse distances faster. He was a villain Matt hated to face. Not because he was deadly in any way. But just an annoyance to defeat.

He was known only as the Stilt-Man.

Stilt-Man was walking over the cars below like a child, waddling over toys. His mechanical legs were currently over five stories tall and were letting him walk faster than even the vehicle pursuing him. He sees an intersection and smiles behind his helmet.

If he walks over the oncoming traffic, Daredevil wouldn't be able to pursue. He increases the height of his legs by a few more feet and he walks towards the intersection a bit faster.

Elektra sees this and notices that the traffic light at the intersection was green. "Now," she says, over her communicator. The traffic light shuts down for a few seconds and then flickers into a glowing red.

The traffic at the intersection stops to a sudden halt, as unwary commuters slam their brakes. Stilt-Man stops at the traffic light and waves his arms around, trying to regain his balance. He did not want to walk into still traffic. Walking on top of cars was far too slow and messy.

"Hold on," Matt says, pulling the handbrake of the car. Black marks stretch across the road as the car breaks scream. He crashes into one of Stilt-Man's legs and the villain extends one of his mechanical arms to grab onto a nearby building to keep him steady.

Elektra leaps onto his leg and starts climbing; holding her sai between her teeth. She was climbing up towards Stilt-Man's torso like a pirate up a ship's mast. The cold October air made her sai feel far too cold. She felt like she was biting down on an icicle.

Stilt-Man looks down, feeling the extra weight on his armour and sees a girl, dressed in red and black reach his chassis. He gulps audibly, seeing the sai between her teeth. Elektra grabs the hilt of her weapon and brings it towards Stilt-Man's chest. She places the blade in between a small gap and pushes against it. Metal scrapes against metal and she forces a panel open. She sees some electronic components inside and smirks.

"I assume this is important," she says facetiously. Stilt-Man nods meekly.

"Please don't. It's really expensive," he pleads.

Ignoring his pathetic snivelling, Elektra drives her sai into the circuitry and sparks start flying out of that part of his armour. The metal in his legs groans as they start to buckle down. Elektra leaps onto Stilt-Man's extended arm and runs across it towards the building he was grabbing onto.

She breathes a sigh of relief as Stilt-Man falls unceremoniously onto the road with a great thud. Dust flies up and the road cracks where he falls. Matt gets out of the car, his legs feeling like jelly. Elektra scales down the building and joins him.

They see Stilt-Man try and get out of his armour, only to have a stray dog bite him in the arm. Matt yanks the dog away as the villain cries out, calming the canine down by patting him.

"You are the most pathetic bad guy ever," he says offhandedly. Matt hears sirens converging on their location and he runs into an alley, with Elektra close behind. The dog follows them, tail wagging and his tongue hanging out of its mouth.

Elektra dusts herself off and scratches the dog behind its ear. "No offence Matthew. But your rogue's gallery is sorely lacking."

"I'm not complaining. It's better than having guys like Joker and Poison Ivy running around the city. I have no idea how Batman deals with his villains. Half of them are A-listers and all of them are bat-shit insane," Matt says. He shudders, remembering his interaction with the clown prince of crime.

Elektra shakes her head, not appreciating Matt's pun. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and moves her lips a hair's breadth away from his. "He has a decent partner," she says, lightly pecking Matt on the lips.

He tilts his head and places his hands on her hips. Her expression softens and she relaxes in his arms. "Yeah. And I've got you," he says. Elektra could see mist forming in his mouth as he talked. His warmth made the cold air tolerable. He pulls her in closer and the two give each other a more passionate kiss. Matt could hear their blood flowing towards their cheeks and their hearts pounding away like drums. He could feel the breath of life inside of them.

"But seriously. I'm driving next time," she says in-between kisses. Making Matt chuckle.

Unbeknownst to the young lovers, a figure was watching them from the shadows above. A video camera in his hand. He turns off the device and retreats. He had what he needed.

* * *

 **Unknown location, October 11th, 2010:**

There were only a select few who could keep Nobu waiting in silence for long stretches. Most of those people are either members of his immediate family or people he respected beyond measure. The woman in front of him fit the latter description.

Lady Shiva sat in front of him, legs crossed in a meditative position. Her face was as calm and tranquil as a pond in the height of spring. But even in this state, one could easily perceive the strength and skill she possessed. A bead of sweat falls from Nobu's brow. He has fought masked heroes, hoards of ninja and literal demons, and yet not one even came close to instilling the fear he feels when near her.

He closes his eyes and focuses on his own breathing, trying to calm his mind. He was at liberty to leave whenever he wanted but with Davos and Bullseye, there was usually a mess to be cleaned.

An undead ninja, clad in red walks silently towards the two assassins. Shiva addresses 'him', eyes still closed. "Have they arrived?"

The ninja nods. "They are outside the doors," he says, his voice soft and husky.

"Send them in," she says.

The metal doors creak, and the two enter the hall. Bullseye stifles a cough, uncomfortable by the smell of incense. Normally he would make a snide comment and try to get rid of the smell, but even he knew that it was unwise to displease Lady Shiva.

The two sit besides Nobu, who notices that Davos once again refuses to gaze at their master directly. Shiva was beautiful and acknowledging that beauty would be akin to sacrilege for a celibate monk like Davos.

They wait for a few more minutes. Shiva's soft breath sounded like a crashing tide to their ears. Bullseye fought every urge he has to make a sound and remained silent. Even Ra's Al Ghul wasn't this theatrical.

"I read the report. Quick work. But, that trick with the toothpick was unnecessary," she says, her eyes still closed. Bullseye's voice wavers.

"Well… That lady's dead. That's what matters," he says with trepidation. The three men were on edge; to be too defensive would show weakness and to be too arrogant would show insubordination. She's killed people for less.

Shiva opens her eyes and smiles. "You fulfilled your task. But your tendency to show off might cost us in the future. And _your_ job is to reign him in, Davos," she says. Her brown eyes look into his.

"Master," he says. But he cannot muster the strength to say anymore.

"But in light of your collective success, I'm inclined to be generous. I've a task for the three of you," she says. She snaps her fingers and three ninjas emerge from the shadows, handing the men some files.

They open it and see a collection of photographs. One was a picture of Daredevil and Elektra standing next to a man wearing some ridiculous mechanical armour. The second was that of Elektra holding the arm of a blind teenager with red hair and crimson coloured glasses.

"Who's the lad?" Bullseye asks, pointing to the blind boy. He rubs his scar across his belly, underneath his armour. Shiva notices this, remembering what her sister did to the Irishman.

"Our scouts have seen the two roaming around New York. The boy's called Matthew Murdock," she says.

"Why is Elektra with him?" Davos asks. He could piece together what Shiva was implying but he did not want to rush to conclusions.

She looks at the photos. "I thought it was quite obvious. The two are a couple. We also have reason to believe that Murdock is likely the vigilante Daredevil."

Bullseye scoffs at this. "You're joking? Right? I mean, the lad is blind."

Shiva takes a set of photographs from her folder and places them on the table. The three men look down to see them and the image surprises them. Elektra and Daredevil, kissing each other underneath a street light.

"That's not possible," Bullseye says. Unable to fathom the idea.

Nobu glares at him. "The Chaste has trained numerous men with varying disabilities into fierce warriors. You of all people should not underestimate him." Bullseye twitches his lip, Nobu's deep voice sent vibrations through his chest.

Nobu was the only one of the three men to decisively defeat Matt in a one on one confrontation. Granted, Bullseye defeated Daredevil in their first bout, but it was quite the struggle. One filled with blood. Davos almost won against an injured Matt but Elektra intervened.

"Besides. He's the right age, height and build. The two make a deadly pair," Davos says.

"We have images of his allies and friends across New York. Britt Reid Senior, the former Green Hornet, is hosting a party three days from now at his building, The Daily Sentinel. I want the three of you to infiltrate the party and target senior."

"Why him?" Bullseye asks. "Why not attack the lad directly?"

She leans forward. "The boy might prove useful. Killing him now would be wasteful. But, if he hears the word that one of his allies is a target, it redirects him from our true goal."

Nobu's eyes widen in realisation. "You cannot possibly…"

"Yes. It's time."

He stands up and straightens his suit. "I know what this mission entails. And I want no part in it," he says with a wavering voice. He turns his back to walk away but stops, feeling a tight grip on his shoulder.

"I know you've reservations. But it's a task that needs to be done. The birth of a black sky is a rare occurrence and you already lost one to the Chaste," she says with a neutral voice. She could feel his muscles trembling. She could stop his heart or make his lungs burst with a touch. But even then Nobu remains defiant.

"I am sorry. But you know I cannot," he says. His usual confidence was replaced with childlike fear.

Shiva lets him go. He lets out a deep breath and adjusts his cufflinks.

"I will not make any attempt to stop you. Or them. But I will not partake in this."

Nobu walks out the door. Davos and Bullseye look at Shiva, who had a neutral expression. "I knew he would be opposed. I'm happy he voiced his concerns. I would have had to kill him otherwise. But the two of you. You've a grand task ahead of you."

Bullseye and Davos look at each other and bow. Pleasing Shiva was taxing enough.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, October 14th, 2010:**

"No, it's jab, jab, cross. We've been through this," Ted Grant says, looking at the young man in front of the punching bag. The elderly coach performs the combination again, shaking the 200-pound bag with every punch. Elektra could see the seams loosening after he was done.

"Keep at it kid. You'll get the hang of it. Remember, turn your hips. That's where the power comes from, not your arms," he says, wiping his forehead.

Ted was over ninety years old but he was stronger and faster than most men a quarter of his age. Elektra could tell that he was a beast of a man back in his prime. She would have loved to fight him back then. It would have been an informative experience.

She hears someone clear their throat and she turns around. "You can let me go now," Lakshmi says, her face bright red and her arm in Elektra's vice-like grip.

She lets her go and places a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry. I was a bit distracted," she says. Lux turns around and sees a few boys, around their age, staring at them. The girls were wearing hoodies and leggings -a low key look- specifically to avoid this kind of attention. But boys will be boys. And two pretty girls in a boxing gym are hard to miss.

"Do we have to stay here," Lux asks, crossing her arms. Elektra tilts her head.

"You're the one who wanted self-defence lessons and we agreed to meet Matthew here."

They see the boys making a few obscene gestures and Elektra bites her lip. "Wait a sec."

She walks up to the tallest boy. He was over six feet tall with short, blonde hair and was clearly the leader of this bunch. Elektra pouts her lips slightly and gives him a wide-eyed look that caught his attention immediately.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I and my friend were wondering if you could show us a few moves. We've only just started and the coach isn't paying us much attention," she says with an innocent smile.

The tall teenager looks at his friends and smirks. "Yeah? Well, that's his mistake. Come on, I can show you a few things." He sounded innocent enough but his eyes betrayed his true intentions.

Elektra grabs his hand and follows him into an empty ring. He raises his fists and puts his right foot forward. "Southpaw?" Elektra asks.

"Yeah. Yeah. Like Rocky. You know, from the movies. Anyway. To throw a jab- that's basically like a normal punch- you need to stretch out your arms like this. Keep your hands relaxed and close your fist at the last second. Like this," he says. He punches the air and Elektra pinches herself to try and stop laughing. She could throw a better punch when she was ten.

She raises her arms and moves her left back and forth. "Tighten it in the last second, yeah? Like this?" Her fist hits the boys chin like a whip and he feels a few teeth flying out of his gums. He collapses on the floor, spitting out some blood.

Elektra lowers herself and whispers into his ear. "There's a difference between checking a girl out and staring at her like she's a piece of meat," she taps him on the cheek and stands up. "Just keep that in mind."

His friends get into the ring to help him up and she walks back towards Lux. "You and Matt really need to learn what restraint is," she says. Though she secretly thought it was satisfying seeing Elektra punch that guy.

"Please. You hate that macho nonsense just as much as I do. Even Matthew tries to pull it off. It's irritating," she says, leaning on the wall.

Lux looks up and thinks. "Does he do the thing where he starts working out when you're mid-sentence and for literally no reason he takes his shirt off."

Elektra's eyes widen in acknowledgement. "Yes! My God. It happens so often. The view's nice for the first few seconds but it's so awkward after. Wait, does he talk to you in that stupid _Devil voice_ when he's in costume?" she asks, deepening her tone.

"All the time. Even over the Comms. It's like he's a cosplayer that's way, way into his act, you know?" Lux says.

The two girls start giggling uncontrollably, both leaning on the walls to stop themselves from falling over. The doors of the gym open and they see Matt, wearing a black and white suit with a half done bowtie.

"Anyone miss me?" He asks, twirling his cane around.

They look at each other and burst out laughing.

"What?" Matt asks.

The girls fall on the floor, and Elektra grabs her stomach. The pain was too much to bear.

"What?" He asks in a more demanding voice.

The laughter continues and Lux points at him. The girls share a glance, and they bellow out even more.

A loud bang echoes across the room and the girls stop. They turn around and see Ted, striking his cane on the floor. "Are you kids quite done yet? I have a business to run."

The girls let out a few sniggers and straighten themselves up. "We apologize, Mr Grant," Elektra says.

"Yeah. We're sorry." Lux says.

"Hey. I didn't do anything," Matt whines, raising his arms.

Elektra walks over to him, grabbing his bowtie. "Who taught you to wear one of these?"

"Britt? Or Robin. Can't remember," he says, smiling.

"That's what I thought. Come along Matthew. I'll help you with your… attire," she says with a playful smirk. She guides him towards a door that led to a flight of stairs and she shuts it behind them.

Lux and Ted look at the door and the old man sighs.

"What's down there?" She asks.

"An unused ring and a few mattresses. Pretty sure we had a shower room too," Ted says.

"They aren't coming back up anytime soon are they?" She asks.

Ted shakes his head. "It's doubtful."

"Mind teaching me a few things?" she asks awkwardly, picking up a pair of gloves.

"Anything to take my mind off of… that," he says. "I'll have to send in a cleaner after this," he mutters to himself.

 _To be young and in love. God, those were the days_ , he thinks. He takes a look at an old poster from decades ago and sees a young man with his face. Though his skin was fresh and his hair was black. Ted looks down and sees the wrinkles on his shivering fists and the cane in his hand. He looks at Lux and smiles.

Young or old, teaching people how to fight would never lose its lustre.

* * *

"How about her?" Elektra asks, pointing to a tall girl in a black dress. Britt Reid Junior shakes his head.

"Nah. She's not into guys," he says, taking a sip of orange juice.

Matt looks at him confused. "How'd you figure that out, Sherlock?"

Britt points to her. "She's been staring at that chick over there this whole time." Elektra turns and sees a young black teenager wearing a golden disco themed outfit.

The two girls were staring at each other and Elektra would recognise the 'flirting eyes' a mile away. Britt gave Matt a brief description of the two, much to his annoyance. "We've been at this for an hour. I never thought you were one to be picky, junior," she says.

Despite not caring much for Britt even she had to admit. He was a decent detective when he applied himself.

"It's Britt, not junior. And hey, _you're_ the one who started scouting for girls, not me," Britt says defensively. Elektra raises her hands in defeat.

The three were standing on the ground floor of the Daily Sentinel building. Some of the richest, most powerful men and women in New York were present here tonight. All here for the charity ball hosted by Britt's father, Britt Reid Senior.

"I never got why some people just add junior to their own name and think that's a good name for a kid. It's really confusing," Matt says, tapping his cane.

Elektra nods and locks her arms around his. "It's rather uncreative, which is concerning, given that your father runs a newspaper." Britt glares at her as she smiles snidely.

The tall teenager spots someone in the crowd and walks towards her. "Matt, you're my wingman."

"I'm your wha-?" He asks as he is pried away from Elektra's grasp.

"Have fun, boys. Remember to come back by ten," she says sarcastically, using her mom voice. Elektra shakes her head and makes her way towards the bar. She was craving for some juice. She orders her drink and places a finger over her earpiece.

"Matthew. I spot at least ten hand ninja. Undercover in the crowd. Can't see any fingers though. What about senior?" She says, referring to the core members as the fingers of the Hand.

Matt shakes his head and whispers so that Britt couldn't hear. "Can't sense them, remember? And Mr Reid doesn't seem to care much for my warnings. Stay in touch while I handle this disaster."

"Come again?" Britt asks.

Matt pats his arm. "Nothing. She close?"

The boys walk towards the girl in question and Matt hears some mandarin escape her lips. "You know, El's gonna kill you if you mess this up."

"Relax. You can make out in the janitor's closet after I get this girl," Britt says, making Matt laugh.

"Yeah, sure. That I'd like to see."

"Might wanna rephrase that bud," Britt says, guiding Matt towards their destination.

The girl was Asian, with her hair in a neat bun with a pin in it. She was wearing a traditional Chinese dress, with a golden dragon emblazoned across the body. Britt stands next to her and Matt was right behind him. Blushing like a kid.

"Yes?" The girl asks. Her skin was like pure marble and her face looked like it was a delicate portrait. But as Britt was admiring the girl's beauty, Matt was preoccupied with what he was hearing. Or rather, could not hear.

She was suppressing her heartbeat and judging by the shuffling in her dress, she has multiple concealed weapons. But Matt didn't recognize her outline and Elektra didn't seem alarmed when they were walking towards her. So she was unlikely to be Hand. So who was she?

Britt breaks the silence. "So, uh. Where you from?" Britt asks.

"Hong Kong. And you?" She asks politely. Her eyes waver between the two and Matt could tell she was analysing him too.

"We're both from New York," Matt says, putting on a charming smile.

Britt points out a pendant on her necklace. A small figure of Buddha. "You know, I love Chinese culture." Matt fights the urge to smack his friend across the head. What Britt knew about the Chinese probably came from Jackie Chan films and fortune cookies.

"Is that so?" She asks, giving him an interested look that even Matt could tell was far from genuine.

"Yeah. I've been spending the past six months practising the teachings of Boodhi," Britt says. But as soon as the words came out he immediately covers his mouth, unsure of what he had just said.

The girl lets out an awkward giggle and excuses herself. Matt snorts and Britt started to glow as bright as the sun. "I'm pretty sure _Buddha_ just rolled in his grave," Matt says with a wide smile. Britt's mouth hangs open like a catfish and Matt straightens his tie, hearing a set of footsteps approach.

"Ah, Matt. You don't mind if I borrow my son?" Britt Senior asks.

"He's all yours sir," he says. He walks away from the two, allowing Britt Junior to recover from his failed attempt at flirting and to collect his thoughts. He needed to rethink his life choices.

Matt and Elektra walk towards each other and meet near the staircase. "Who's she?" Matt asks, pointing towards the mystery girl subtly. Elektra shrugs.

"She's not Hand. I would know about a recruit her age. But she does look familiar."

Elektra continues to speak but Matt turns his head, hearing a popping noise in the neighbouring building. "Gunshots. Top floor, opposite building," he whispers, turning his head.

The lights go out in the floor they were on and Matt hears the backup generators fire up. Providing the building with dim lighting. The two crack their fists and their hands move towards their concealed weaponry. They knew it was time to act.

"I'll go to the other building. You stay here and protect the target," Elektra says, going towards a fire exit. Matt nods and heads towards the bathroom. He had to get into his work clothes.

Black shadows blur across the floor and Britt Senior pulls his son in close. He puts his hand in his blazer pocket and turns around, pulling out a gun and firing into a black-clad ninja, who attempted to sneak behind him. The people on the floor scream as they hear the shot and the ninja evaporates in a cloud of green smoke, leaving only his clothing behind.

More ninjas started to emerge from the shadows and Senior pivots his gun around, trying to find an escape route. Another scream is heard in the corner of the room and more green smoke emerges. A few ninjas converge on that location and Senior grabs his son and heads upstairs. He needed to get to his panic room on the top floor.

Daredevil grunts as he uses his billy clubs to deflect two sword strikes that were aimed for his head. He kicks one ninja in the chest and strikes another in the head. He moves his arm back and hits the ninja again, shattering his skull, making him disintegrate.

The black ninjas were just the foot soldiers. Matt knew when the red, elite ninja appeared, things would prove more difficult, though he would need to engage them directly in order to determine their rank himself.

He breaks the ribs of two more ninjas and smashes their heads together. Matt hears their skulls crack and smells the scent of ash and vapour as they disintegrate. He turns around, hearing the sound of swords cutting through the air behind him. A few feet in front of him he could hear metal lightly scraping against skin.

One red robed ninja as holding his blade against a woman's throat.

"Let her go," Matt orders in Japanese, raising his clubs. Two ninjas come to his side and the one holding the hostage cuts the skin of the woman, letting a trickle of blood run down her neck.

"Surrender your weapons and stand down, or she dies," the ninja says in Japanese, his voice like a whisper in the wind.

Matt drops his Billy clubs but refuses to move an inch. The two ninjas beside him grab his arms and restrain him. The crowd around him were still, being herded into the corners, away from any exit by more ninjas. Matt could hear a blade being lowered in front of him, near his neck.

He could overpower the three ninjas near him with relative ease. But doing so might endanger the hostage. He hears the blade being raised above him. Matt's breathing was still calm. He needed a clear head to figure a way out of this.

The ninjas turn their heads as the red, elite turns to smoke, freeing the woman he was holding hostage. Matt hears more ninja being cut down, as they confronted the unknown assailant.

He wastes no time and stands himself up. He flips forward and kicks two ninjas in the chest. He picks up a sword and stabs the third in the chest and decapitates the two he knocked down.

Matt picks up his Billy clubs and concentrates, trying to pick up any details about the other fighter. She fought like Elektra, quick, graceful and efficient. But she lacked her brutality and taste for violence. He tries to break down her fighting style even more, though he was quickly distracted as he is knocked down by a kick thrown by one of the last ninjas. Matt groans as he gets up and punches the ninja in the jaw. He moves in for the final blow but stops, hearing a katana slicing through the ninja's bones.

A girl stands in front of him. Around five foot three, wearing a pitch black drivers outfit and hat, with a domino mask, hiding the top of her face. Matt spends a few seconds, trying to recall who this was.

"You?" He asks incredulously. "Party girl?"

She nods. "Mulan Kato. We've met. A few minutes ago," she says in Mandarin. She was slightly flustered since she wasn't used to making friendly conversation mid-combat. They lead the civilians out the building and Matt 'stares' at her.

" _Kato_ had a kid? Him? What woman in their right mind would wanna have a family with that maniac?" He asks in Mandarin. Completely dumbfounded by the mere thought.

Mulan gives him an offended look. "I can see that my father didn't teach you any manners. Where's the Hand girl?" She asks.

Matt frowns behind his helmet. "She's gone to the other building, taking care of the troops there. Wait, why are you here? Where's the old man?"

She sighs. "The Chaste got word that Britt Reid Senior was targeted by the enemy. My father's dealing with their forces in Japan and I was the closest operative they had. So now I'm here." Mulan puts a hand on her hip.

 _You should have finished training this guy, father_ , she thinks. Mulan found his form to be crude but efficient. She could tell that Matt couldn't detect the Hand until they got closer towards him. But even she had to admit that he fought extremely well for someone with incomplete training.

More ninjas surround them and Matt hears gunshots on the floors above, accompanied by his friend's footsteps. The two fighters stand back to back and Matt raises his voice. "You take care of the ninjas here. I'll save the targets."

Mulan nods and raises her sword. Matt runs past a few ninjas and speeds up a flight of stairs. "Come on Britt. Hang in there."

* * *

Britt covers his ears as his father unloads a few rounds into the ninja in front of them. He raises his arm to block a blade and he is pushed back. The ninja looks at his arm in surprise, not expecting to see armoured material beneath the lining of the suit.

Senior headbutts the ninja and fires a bullet into his head, turning him into smoke. He removes the magazine of his gun and reloads, ignoring the sound of his son panicking in the background.

"Dad?" Britt asks. "What's going on? Who are these guys? And how are you doing that?" He asks in quick succession.

Senior shakes his head and grabs his son's hand, forcefully pulling him along. "I'll explain when we get to the safe room. Right now, the priority is staying alive."

Britt sees the look in his father's eyes and swallows. His pupils were dilated and it was as if his face was masked by a shadow. The faint trace of a smile. Like his father was enjoying this, to a small degree. Or relieved, like he was letting off some steam. Britt couldn't tell. He wasn't sure which option scared him more.

They walk up to another flight of stairs, and his father informs him that they would reach the safe room on the next floor. They turn a corner to walk across the hallway to reach the next staircase but stop upon seeing a man in a purple, cloth mask, with a thin, 'S' shaped snake tattoo on his chest.

"Davos?" Senior asks. His face turns pale as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Reid. It's been some time. I haven't seen you in, how long has it been? Twenty years?" Davos asks facetiously.

Britt moves behind his father as he raises his gun. "You haven't aged a day. Guess that Immortal Iron Fist stuff checks out," the former hero says, aiming his gun at the _Steel Serpent_.

Davos snorts. "I wield a much greater power now," he says, glaring at the older Reid.

"Prove it."

The hall echoes with gunfire as Senior shoots his weapon, his fingers quickly flexing the trigger. But Davos was fast. Faster than he remembered. Whenever he pulled the trigger, Davos would be three feet to the side of his previous location, making the bullets miss their mark. It was as if he were teleporting. But Senior could tell that his opponent could predict his shooting pattern.

Davos was still a young man and he was rusty. And much older now. Plus, Kato wasn't there to back him up anymore.

Britt Senior screams in pain, as Davos grabs his arm and twists it, making him drop his weapon. His son cries out and tries to attack Davos, but the immortal fighter kicks him in the shin and then the ankle, dislocating it entirely with a loud pop.

The teenager falls to the floor, unable to deal with the sudden onset of pain.

Davos pulls his fist back and focuses his chi. The two see his fist glowing a bright purple and senior closes his eyes.

"Any last words, old man?" Davos asks, disappointed by his old rival. He sees something approach him at speed and raises his fist, blocking a Billy club from hitting him in the temple. The weapon ricochets off the wall and into a red-gloved hand.

"Yeah. Run," Matt says.

Senior hits Davos in the groin with his knee and picks up his injured son. He runs towards the stairs, carrying the boy bridal style.

Davos makes no attempt to stop them. He has a new target.

" _Daredevil_. You certainly took your time," Davos says, his fist now returning back to normal.

Matt notices the slight twitch in his opponent's hand and his attempt to conceal it. "You didn't have to arrange all this just to fight me again. The Hand ever hear of a cell phone?"

"Humour? I see the traitor has already begun to influence you. You western men are slaves to your women. You lack the strength to control them," Davos says venomously.

Matt breathes deeply. He hated people insulting Elektra. And he especially hated morons with antiquated morals. But perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

"Isn't your boss a woman?" Matt asks. He notes a spike in Davos' previously calm heartbeat and smiles. "Yeah. It must be unbearable. Having to work under a girl. And the worst part? She's way stronger than you. No wonder you're compensating, you're clearly lacking in the manhood department," Matt says, laughing. "Pathetic."

Davos lets out a throat-tearing scream and lunges at Matt, who ducks underneath a wild kick that cracks the wall behind him. He gets up and is knocked back by a straight palm to his chest. Matt breathes erratically, his lungs struggling to draw breath.

He steadies himself and pulls out his Billy clubs, combining them to form a bo staff. Matt tilts his head, hearing Britt Senior and his son enter the safe room. He spits out a drop of blood and scowls. This was not going to be easy.

* * *

Elektra leaps over a table, stabbing two ninjas simultaneously with her twin sai. She leans backwards, dodging a spiked chain and throws one of her sai into the ninja's neck. They all disintegrate and Elektra wipes the sweat off her forehead.

She was tired. Fighting through a building filled with undead warriors alone would do that to anyone. She rubs her stinging shoulder and berates herself, annoyed that she was hit by a stray sword swipe a few floors ago.

But she didn't have time for rest. She puts her hand on her chest and feels her heartbeat. She breaths and feels it slowly stabilise. She couldn't afford to fight feeling angry or frustrated. She didn't want to make any stupid mistakes.

Elektra runs across the room like a cat, swift and quiet. She was one floor below the top. The floor where Matt said the gunshot came from. She hoped that he didn't mishear anything since she didn't have the means to swing between buildings. And if Matt needed any help, she would have to climb all the way down her building and up the building he was in just to reach him.

She shuffles up the stairs and spots two red ninjas surrounding a man in a blue, skin-tight costume with a white target on his forehead.

 _Bullseye?_ she thinks. Alarmed by this news she puts a finger in her ear to try and communicate with Matt but hears static. _Signal jammers? Wonderful._

She pulls out a few shurikens from her pocket, while Bullseye assembles a sniper rifle. Elektra throws them into the ninja's necks, turning them to dust.

Seeing this, a surprised Bullseye drops his rifle and crosses his arms, blocking a knee to the face. His feet are pushed back by the force of the attack and he feels his arms shaking.

The onslaught didn't stop. Elektra continues to pound into the Irishman. A flurry of precise kicks, punches and knees are delivered to his body and all he could do was keep his arms up, trying to cover as much of his torso as he could.

She was not as agile as Matt. But she more than made up for it with her technique. Elektra fires an uppercut into his crossed arms and twists her fist, breaking through the guard.

Elektra sees the look of shock on Bullseye as his arms flail back and she smirks. She raises her hand and grabs him by the wrist, twisting it. Bullseye grits his teeth as his bones start to crack. Elektra then kicks him in the chest and he is sent flying into a table, making its contents fall on the floor with a loud thud.

He uses his shivering hand to grab onto the table and pulls himself upright. Elektra lunges at him and Bullseye panics. He reaches back and frantically searches the table, not breaking eye contact with the girl.

Elektra was less than a foot away from him when her vision goes black for a moment, feeling something hit her in the head. She looks down and sees a stapler fall to the floor. She looks back at Bullseye who throws a cup into her thigh, making her leg buckle.

Bullseye throws a few more objects at her, hitting her with enough force to bruise Elektra. She sees him get hold of a few pencils and pens and she leaps to the side, narrowly avoiding being skewered by a ballpoint pen.

She leaps over a table and breaks it's legs, turning the top over, using it as a shield. She almost yelps in surprise as three pencils are thrown through the wood like small missiles. The sound makes her flinch, as two more projectiles pop through her cover.

Elektra tries to peer to the left of the table but the moment her head exits cover she is grazed by a pencil, cutting her forehead. Elektra closes her eye as blood drips down her face. She wanted to peer towards the right to try and find out where he was but refrains from doing so, seeing his shadow on that side. Using the length of the shadow, she estimates that Bullseye was five feet behind the table towards her right.

Her heart was hammering against her ribs and her breathing was erratic. She sees images in her mind; a result of her imagining how to best deal with her opponent. Elektra tentatively wraps her fingers around the hilt of her sai. The beating in her chest stabilized as she did, visualising her blade penetrating his skull. She feels her old training kicking in, the blood lust rising in her body. The experience was almost calming.

The shadow becomes larger as heavy footsteps come towards her. She snaps out of her trance and reminds herself to ignore that instinct. _You're better than that._

She needed to get close to him. That was the only way she could win this fight. She pulls out a shuriken and throws it towards the left, the metal sticking to the wall with a small clang.

Bullseye looks in that direction and Elektra draws her sai and rushes him. He had no time to react as she stabs him in the shoulder.

He screams as blood gushes out of the wound. He headbutts Elektra and drives a pen he was holding onto her arm, making her drop one of her sai. With the other one remaining lodged in his shoulder.

She grabs him and pushes him against a table. Elektra turns him around so that his back was facing her and wraps her arms around his throat, making Bullseye's eyes water, barely able to breathe. The two were bleeding out and she wanted to end the fight quickly before blacking out.

His vision begins to fade and his eyes started to go red. He was about to let his hands go limp till he spots something on the table he was pinned against. Bullseye reaches out and painstakingly grabs a pair of scissors and moves his arm behind him, stabbing Elektra in the collar bone. Her grip on him starts to fail, as her arms start to go numb.

Feeling her grip weaken, Bullseye breaks out of her grasp and tackles her. Running the two of them into a large metal shelf, filled with old computer parts. They look up, hearing hundreds of pounds of metal crash down upon them.

Both fighters lie there. Broken and unable to move. But they remained conscious, despite the crushing pressure over their bodies.

They refused to blackout and looked into each other's eyes, seeing the passion burning in each other. A sad truth becomes clear to Elektra.

Only one person would be leaving this building alive.

* * *

Matt feels a strong hand push him into a window, shattering it. His ears ring as a foot break his nose.

He leaps backwards and wipes off the mixture of blood and sweat off of his face. Davos steps towards him and feels his legs trembling, making him stop. A shock spreads through the right half of his body as Matt hits him in the liver.

Davos' stomach felt like it was about to exit out of his mouth but he doesn't react. He counters by kicking Matt on the inside of his knee, taking one of his legs out of commission. The teenager almost slips and falls over but he holds his ground, tightening his burning muscles.

He was a Murdock. He was too stubborn to go down.

Both warriors were breathing heavily, their clothes in tatters and soaked in blood. Matt's armour was cracked in several places and his muscles were shaking like a leaf. His Billy clubs lay on the floor, broken beyond repair. _I've relied on my swords way too much. I'm getting soft_ , Matt thinks.

Davos' anger made him open to several attacks early on that Matt wouldn't have otherwise landed. Though his experience pulled him through and he quickly changed the rhythm of the fight by countering Matt's agile movements with quick, conservative attacks that exploited any openings in the younger fighter's body.

The second half of the fight went to Davos. But his power was diminished from the damage he received earlier.

Both fighters knew that Davos has one weapon that could change the course of this fight. His chi powered fist.

Matt remembers how powerful it was. Davos could potentially knockout Superboy in a single blow. It was a double-edged sword, however, since its use left him weak and vulnerable.

Daredevil listens to Davos' heartbeat and breathing. He was barely holding on. He wasn't used to these long, drawn-out brawls. Matt wanted to draw out the fist. If Davos missed then his energy would be spent. It was a risky manoeuvre but it was one Matt was willing to take.

"Come on then. What are you waiting for?" Matt asks with a shrug. A vexed look appears behind Davos' mask and Matt knew he had to poke him a little bit more. "What? Do you need Shiva's permission to get it up and running?" he asks provocatively.

The temperature in the room increases around Davos and Matt feels a great deal of energy being drawn into his fist. Davos felt the power swell inside of him. He was a weapon. A living weapon. Forged in iron. A fact that he would demonstrate by decimating his disrespectful opponent.

Matt gets into a combat stance, smelling the adrenaline coursing through Davos' veins. He ducks as Davos' fist flies above him, breaking away a part of his helmet.

He falls into the floor and Davos steps on his chest, pinning him to the ground. He pulls back his arm, aiming his fist above Matt's head.

Matt hears the weapon descend upon him and his instincts kick in. He raises his hand and grabs Davos by the wrist, redirecting the fist towards the ground they were standing on, inches away from Matt's head.

A shockwave shakes the building to its foundations as his fist makes contact with concrete. The ground beneath them collapses like sand and they fall twelve feet to the floor below.

Matt feels his bones shift uncomfortably as he falls on top of Davos, who cushioned his descent. His hearing was completely off kilter and a loud, bell-like ringing echoed inside of his head. He rolls off his opponent and onto a piece of metal.

He touches it, feeling the reverberations. It was a long, piece of rebar, probably used when constructing the building.

Matt uses it to prop himself up and feels Davos move the air around him, clutching his arm, groaning in pain. The teenager limps towards his fallen enemy and places the rebar against his belly.

He grabs the metal rod with both hands and slowly penetrates Davos' body with it. The immortal warrior let out an ear-bursting scream as he felt his internal organs burst and his blood flows out of his body. Unfortunately for Davos, Matt could not hear any of his cries.

Matt twists and feels Davos, gasping for air. "You'll live," he says, out of breath.

He limps towards the staircase and starts to walk upstairs to the safe room. He stops for a moment to steady himself. His legs were shaking uncontrollably and he slips off a step. He realises that his balance was also affected by the shockwave. Matt leans against the wall and drags himself up the stairs.

His job wasn't done yet.

* * *

Elektra opens her swollen eyes and lets out a small moan. Her body felt like it weighed a tonne and she couldn't move an inch. Her eyes dart around; she tries to remember where she was. Her vision slowly clears and she almost vomits at what she sees. Bullseye was glaring at her with a twisted grin and bright blue eyes.

The two yell out and push themselves off of the ground, along with the shelf and roll to the side before it falls back on either of them.

Bullseye stands up, throwing the computer parts off of him but does not see Elektra anywhere. He bites his lip as he pulls her sai out of his shoulder. The gears in his mind start to turn as he tries to figure out a strategy. _She's a ninja. She'll use the shadows_ , he thinks.

He knows that there was hardly any light behind him. He snarls. If he turns around and she attacked elsewhere then his life would be over. It was a gamble. But he knew that he only had seconds to decide. He picks up a playing card off of the floor and turns around, throwing it where someone's neck would be.

A few drops of blood fall on the floor and Bullseye smiles.

Elektra falls to her knees into a small pool of her blood. Bullseye walks up to her and sees her eyes. Young and still filled with the will to fight. She tries to get up but lightning courses through her broken body. Right now she couldn't even move a finger. She feels him lift her by the collar and her eyes look down at her sai in his sprained hand.

"You're good, lass. Very, very good. I'll make sure _Matthew_ knows that before I'm done with him," Bullseye says with a crazed smile.

Elektra wanted to scream. To fight back. To protect Matt. But her body was failing her and she could nothing to change that. She sees her sai in his hand as he skewers her in the stomach. A small gasp of air exits her mouth as he twists the blade and slides it out of her body.

He unceremoniously drops her on the floor as the colour starts to drain from her skin. Elektra tries to breathe but the cut on her throat made that impossible. She tries her hardest not to close her eyes. To hold on to something. Anything.

But the weight on her eyelids kept on increasing. And her breath grew more and more shallow. The pain in her body slowly fades away and her vision slowly darkens. She closes her eyes and hears her breath fade away.

* * *

A long smear of blood is drawn across the wall as Matt drags his hand across it; using it to help keep him steady as he walks towards the safe room. The two Reids were safe inside, injured but alive.

Britt Junior was being nursed back to health by his father. At least as best as the circumstances would allow. Matt could perceive what was going on inside the safe room by feeling the vibrations through the wall and floor. Senior's hands were crushing ice inside of a bag and he was placing it against his son's head. His gun was within reach in case someone got through the door.

Matt strenuously lets out a puff of air, stifling a groan as he knocks on the door made of three feet of steel. "It's Daredevil. Check the camera."

Senior walks towards a monitor to take a look at the footage. He sees Daredevil and deactivates the lock by pressing a few buttons. Matt rests his head against the wall as he hears circuits firing and metal grinding as the door slowly slides open.

Matt falls to the ground and Senior picks him up. "Your son," Matt says, concerned for Britt's well being. The older man shakes his head dismissively.

"Sprained ankle and a mild concussion. He'll be fine, Matt."

Senior winces after finishing his sentence and Matt turns towards him with a quizzical look. "How long have you known?" he asks, barely hearing his name through his ears.

"Used to be a detective back in the day son. Plus, Kato keeps in touch. Don't worry, your secret's safe with…" Senior could not finish his sentence, seeing a red dot light up on Matt's chest. He pushes him out of the way and Matt tastes a mixture of iron and Italian fibre lined with Kevlar fill the air.

He feels a great amount of heat exiting Britt Seniors body and he pulls him and his son behind a corner of a wall, hiding the three of them from the shooter. His radar sense shows Matt that the bulletproof glass was shattered by two consecutive, focused shots. One to break the glass and the other to hit the target. Matt figured it was done with a sniper rifle.

Matt applies pressure in Senior's wound. He was feeling faint and the only thing that was keeping him from collapsing on top of the two was a surge of adrenaline and endorphins. But he knew that would run its course eventually.

A pair of small hands cover his own and a familiar heartbeat enters his ears. "I'll stay here. Go after the shooter," Mulan says, removing a first aid kit from her costume.

She hands Matt a grappling gun and even though he barely hear her he understood the message. He stumbles out of the safe room. The door still open. After a few minutes, he made his way onto the top of the building. He fires a line to the other side and swings through a window which was on the floor he assumed the shooter was.

Matt squirms on the floor and grabs on a chair to help prop himself up. He scans the room with his remaining senses, looking for anything that might give him a lead. A faint sound, a scent. Something. But his head of still ringing from Davos' attack and he couldn't concentrate.

He could taste particulates of blood that were floating unseen in the air and could feel pools of it heating up the floor and the surrounding desks. Matt moves his head left and right, trying to pick up on anything else. His radar showed him that the entire office floor was in shambles. Outlines of tables flipped over, desks broken and shelves knocked on the ground entered his consciousness

Matt stops when he feels something on the ground. He hobbles towards it and kneels down, inspecting his find. He could tell it was a person by the outline and the blood still pouring out of the body. His fingers trace the face of the body and his heart sinks as he recognises the structure.

 _Elektra?_ He thinks. Matt violently grasps his head, trying to come to terms with what he just discovered. He places his ear against her chest, trying to hear a heartbeat. But is only greeted with deafening silence.

Matt starts to do chest compressions. He breaths into her mouth after every few pumps, trying his best to ignite some life back into her body. He mutters a prayer as he tries to resuscitate her. Pleading to God that she would come back to him. That some spark would enter her body.

But after several minutes nothing happens. Matt picks up Elektra's body in his hands. Feeling her blood grow colder and colder by the second.

He feels all the stab wounds that penetrated her body and he brings her in close. His face slowly contorts; from one of shock to one of great pain. His eyes start to sting with tears and Matt lets out a muffled scream. He cradles her back and forth letting out another cry of anguish. He grabs onto her with what little strength he had left.

He could not let her go.

His body felt heavy, yet shallow and any attempt to breathe on his part gave him a feeling of disgust. Her body was light and without life. How could he draw breath while she was like this?

Matt feels something on her arm and he traces his fingers over it. Three concentric circles were drawn out of her own blood in the shape of a target.

She spent her last moments drawing that to give Matt a message. One he understood perfectly.

Matt's emptiness was replaced by burning in his stomach. His breath became erratic and warm as he realises who was responsible for Elektra's death.

He slowly places her body on the floor and kisses her on the forehead.

Matt cracks his knuckles and lets out a small growl. He was going hunting.

* * *

"Hey. Watch it," someone says as a man in a hat and trench coat bashes into him.

"Piss off," Bullseye mutters under his breath, rubbing his makeshift sling and his bandages. _Of all the places to rendezvous. It had to be here,_ he thinks.

Ninjas needed to hide in plain sight and Grand Central Terminal was apparently the perfect spot. Though Bullseye would have preferred a helicopter or a getaway car.

Every part of his body was burning and the painkillers he was chewing on did little to alleviate it. He walks past the security, who was eyeing him suspiciously and down a flight of stairs, that was headed towards the underground subway.

He stands in the middle of a crowd, still as a statue as dozens of passengers brush past him, boarding and exiting the train. As the train departs he hears the crowd near the staircase exclaiming in surprise.

At first, he thought someone recognised him. But as the crowd starts to speak one word was clear among the cacophony.

"Daredevil."

Bullseye leaps onto the now empty tracks - which wrecks hell on his legs - and runs into the tunnel. He fumbles around in his pocket and pulls a gun but feels it fly out of his grip the moment he does.

He turns around and sees Daredevil, holding the gun in his right and a grappling gun the left. Matt throws the grappling gun away and raises the pistol and aims it at Bullseye.

The air was silent and the tunnels were dark. Bullseye could barely see Matt but he gathered enough to know that running would be futile. The assassin removes his trench coat and puts on his mask.

He looks at Matt, the gun still aimed at his head. For a moment Bullseye feels some relief, knowing he would have a quick death.

Instead, he feels his gut being hit by multiple times by the force of a sledgehammer after hearing a series of bangs. He falls to the floor, coughing out a pitiful amount of blood. He hears the shells fall on the floor and counts eleven. There was one last bullet left in the barrel. His armour was now useless. The bullets broke too many ribs to count.

The shots were made with a purpose. Each bullet hitting Bullseye in all the places where he had stabbed Elektra.

Matt walks towards him, making sure that every step was loud and audible for Bullseye to hear. He wished for Bullseye to feel as much pain as _he_ did right now. He wanted the assassin's guts to be strung across the tracks and his skin flayed. He wished he could gouge his eyes out and burn them to ash but Matt was on the verge of collapse himself. He needed to make Bullseye's death a quick one and that disappointed him greatly.

He presses the gun against Bullseye's forehead. The assassin feels the warmth of the barrel through his mask. He looks upwards and sees the expression on Daredevil's face.

It was cold. Like the face of Lucifer himself.

Bullseye slowly looks downwards. Ready to accept his fate. But notices something as he does.

A slight tremble on the trigger finger.

Bullseye forces himself to smile and he stands up, spouting out a flurry of coughing and bad language. He grabs the gun and holds it steady, pushing it against his own forehead.

"What are you waiting for _Murdock_? Do it."

Matt's eyes widen behind his mask. His body paralysed with shock. He knew who he was. His hand begins to shake, making the gun rattle in his grip. Bullseye, who was still pressing it flush against his head gave Matt a crazed look. "What are you waiting for lad? I shot your friend. I killed your girlfriend. And I'm not gonna stop. Come on. She would want you to, wouldn't she?" he asks patronisingly.

Multiple scenarios fill Matt's head. Bullseye could kill his brother. His friends. And he would not stop till he took away everything he cared about. He imagines how it would feel. To hold them all in his arms. Bleeding out. Breathless and without life like he did with Elektra.

No.

He could not allow that to happen.

He lets his finger become a hair's breadth away from the trigger. "What's stopping you? Pull it," Bullseye says, eager to see what route Matt would go down. Matt thinks about that. Why wouldn't he pull the trigger? His mind flashes back to the promise he made on the graves of his Father and Mary- the woman he killed fighting Bullseye almost a year ago.

He would never kill.

Every fibre of his being was screaming to make him shoot Bullseye. But his body would not perform the action. With a pained expression, Matt lowers the gun and Bullseye smiles. "Coward," he tells Matt, walking away, further into the tunnels.

Matt hears his footsteps getting further away but he stands still. Making no attempt to stop him. He falls to his knees and he feels the weight of the gun in his hands. Matt screams and throws the gun against the tunnel wall, shattering it on impact.

Dogs bark at the entrance of the tunnel and Matt is brought back to his senses. He picks himself up and walks out of the tunnel.

Tired and alone.

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, October 15th, 2010:**

Matt stands there in the black suit Elektra bought him. He smells the flower shops worth of roses surrounding her casket and disgracefully bows his head.

He hears some sniffing next to him and the sound of water running down the skin. "Why're you crying?" He asks Lakshmi.

She looks at him with moist, red eyes. "Someone has to," she says quietly.

Britt pats him on the shoulder. "Let her be Matt." His father was resting in the hospital and Lux debriefed him on Matt and his nocturnal activities just a few hours earlier.

He had many questions. Chief among which was how his blind friend ended being a superhero. But he knew that now was not the time to make such inquiries.

The three stand in front of the casket. Hearing the grief and pain of everyone in the church. Elektra's father was talking with his wife, pulling her in close and holding back tears. Trying to be strong for her.

Elektra's face was too bruised to be shown, so the casket was closed. Matt shakes his head as another mourner places a bunch of roses in a vase.

"She hated roses. I bought her a bouquet once and she threw them away. Orchids. She loved those," he says, lamenting that day with a small smile. Matt hands the three a bouquet of orchids and they place them near Elektra.

They stand there for a few seconds and Matt shuffles uncomfortably. "I had him. I had Bullseye," Matt says, his face filled with more disgust than Britt and Lux had never seen before. "I had a gun in my hand and I couldn't pull the trigger."

The shame in his voice was clear to his friends. Lux takes his hands and puts them on her shoulders.

"I saw you jump into a gang of Yakuza to try and save me. You almost got yourself killed fighting Amazo but you still rallied the people to douse the fires that that thing made. You fought an army of ninjas to try and save Britt and his dad. You don't have the hands of a killer, Matt. You're a hero. You save people. And she loved that about you," she says, with a steadfast voice.

She takes off Matt's glasses, seeing a lone tear stream down his battered face. Veins were popping out of his forehead, as he tried to keep a lid on his emotions. "It's ok," she says as Britt wraps his long arms around the two in a bear hug.

Matt wails like a baby. Unable to contain himself any longer. The three mourn for the life they lost. Weeping in each other's arms.

An old Asian man watches from the distance, holding his daughter's hand. "Come, Mulan. We're needed elsewhere."

"Yes, father." She says.

* * *

 **Unknown location, October 15th, 2010:**

Shiva orders the ninja to gently drop the body into the stone coffin. After they leave she gazes upon the face of her fallen sister.

It was fortunate that they did not want the funeral to be an open casket. It made stealing her body much easier since they would not check the inside of the casket before they buried it.

She places a small kiss on Elektra's forehead. She looks at the walls and the murals that were painted across them. Faded images of demons surrounded by hellfire with people rising out of the flame. The imagery was a bit on the nose for Shiva's taste but the process needed to be done in this room and she had no interest in wasting resources by changing the decor.

Shiva runs her hand behind Elektra's back and feels her whip marks. She remembers the horrors their father unleashed upon them when they were younger. How they were too weak to fight back. How much it hurt her to see her sister cry.

"You'll come back stronger than ever. I promise," she says, running her fingers through Elektra's hair.

She feels someone's presence and turns around.

"I hope that this was necessary," Nobu says with a slither of remorse, looking at Elektra's body. Shiva straightens up and any sense of vulnerability from her evaporated immediately.

"She's a black sky. They are a rare breed. And you know she needs to undergo the process," Shiva says coldly.

Nobu stares at her. "The beast… Trigon. She'll be his host." He says, remembering the Hand's true purpose. "Bullseye was the only one here who wasn't attached to her and had the skill to slay her. That's why you took him into our ranks," Nobu says. His query was less of a question and more of a statement.

Shiva nods. "He was a bit overzealous but he got the job done."

She pulls a lever and stone coffin closes. Entrapping Elektra's body inside.

Nobu bows down and leaves the room. Doing his best to ignore the paintings and murals of demons bathed in a hellish inferno on the walls.

He wonders whether Elektra's sacrifice was worth all this. Whether he could have found another black sky. His brief moment of hesitation was noticed and he scolds himself. He was a member of the Hand. He was loyal to Shiva and to Trigon.

He had to be.

* * *

 **That was very difficult to write. I really struggled to choose whether or not I wanted Elektra to die. But that was a vital part of her character in the comics and so had to be done.**

 **I hope I did the moment justice.**

 **Let me know in the comments.**

 **Responding to comments I can't DM:**

 **TheKike:**

 **It was not bad, now that Matt and Elektra follow or the failed simulation, I hope that Matt did not affect much the losses that there will be, "you should have pointed to the head" perhaps it was a reference to Avengers infinity wars, by the way you saw avengers endgame , keep it up**

 **Me:**

 **Yep. That was an avengers reference. And El isn't going to be with Matt in the simulation. Maybe. So sorry. But next chapter will be intense.**

 **TheKike:**

 **It's me again, I have a question that has plagued me for a while, if you ever think about doing a second part of the story, the leader of the justice league will be daredevil, as Batman once said. Good fic**

 **Me:**

 **I'm not sure if I'll do season 2. Since it will be a while till I finish season 1. Thanks for the review.**

 **Next chapter.**

 **How is Matt going to cope with more death and tragedy, simulated or otherwise? Find out next time.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Failsafe:**

 **Happy Harbor, 16th October 2010:**

Matt sat in the middle of the cave with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. He concentrated on the sensation of his breath. The expansion of his lungs as he inhaled and the sense of calm he felt as he exhaled. Flashes of sadness and anger would often disturb these moments of tranquillity but Matt refuses to linger on those feelings for long. He was a soldier and he needed to get his head back in the game. Though despite his best efforts, he could not stop going through the events of the previous night.

His fingers tremble as he recalls how light she felt in his arms. He grunts as he tries to focus his attention back to his breath. But his efforts were in vain. All he could think about was her.

Frustrated, he stands up and wipes the sweat off of his face. He stumbles into the kitchen and turns a knob on the sink letting a stream of water pour down. Matt lets it pool within his hand and he wipes his face in an attempt to cool himself down. But he couldn't.

Matt could still feel her blood running down his hands.

His hand goes towards his chest as his breathing starts to become erratic. His heart was pounding against his chest and he felt a tightness in his throat. Matt starts to hyperventilate and begins to feel faint.

A few voices start talking behind him and Matt turns around, startled. He takes in a few deep breaths and slowly turns off the tap. "Matt?" Robin asks. He could hear Kaldur's heartbeat besides the boy wonder. Calm and collected as always.

"Not in the mood," Matt says gruffly, picking up a towel. He tries to walk out of a kitchen but a strong hand gently holds him back.

"We don't wish to preach. But perhaps it would be best if you took some time away from the Team. I am sure Batman would understand," Kaldur says sympathetically, placing a hand on Matt's shoulder.

Dick nods. "After what happened, you need to take a break. Figure some stuff out," he says with a small smile. But Matt was in no mood to listen.

"It doesn't matter," Matt responds coldly, removing Kaldur's hand with force. He picks up his helmet and walks towards the centre of the cave, hearing his other teammates congregating there.

He had no desire to talk. He just wanted to do his job. Holographic screens pop up in front of the Team and Wally's description of what they were displaying was Matt alarming, to say the least.

Both Green Lanterns, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, Batman and even Superman were disintegrated by multiple alien spacecraft. But that was only the Extra-terrestrial line of defence.

Back on earth, every other member of the League fell one after the other. Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Wonder Woman and both Hawks all died in their efforts to stop the aliens. Red Tornado informed the Team that he was the last member standing. But even he failed to stop the aliens as a large craft landed and smashed the entire town of Smallville like an anthill along with the android.

The screens go black as Matt hears Tornado's final words. He exhales again, unwilling to feel anything for his fallen comrade. "We're earth's last line of defence," he says.

"So what are we waiting for? A theme song?" Superboy asks sarcastically.

Aqualad shakes his head. "No. A strategy."

"We can't fight these things head on. They massively outgun us. But if we can get a hand on one of those ships; we could study them. Figure out their strengths and weaknesses," Matt says. He turns to Robin who fiddles with his wrist-mounted computer.

"Checking satellite imagery," Robin says, pulling up a large holographic display of earth with red dots of varying sizes plotted across the map, indicating the alien's current positions. "Here's where the aliens are now."

Kid Flash points towards the North Pole. "This one get lost?" he asks.

"It's near the Fortress of Solitude," Superboy says. He was clearly distressed by this news.

"Why would they wanna go there?" Matt asks.

Robin faces the two. "Its power source must have attracted the alien's attention. At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."

"Then we will target this lone ship," Aqualad says with vigour.

Kid Flash cracks his knuckles. "Yeah. Let's take it out. Break it down and build more. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo," he says. His comment warranted an elbow to the side from Artemis, making him wince slightly.

"Hello. Martian and Kryptonian in the house," she reminds the Speedster.

Kid Flash turns towards his alien teammates - who were giving him disapproving looks - sheepishly. "Not that all aliens are automatically ugly," he says, trying to salvage the situation.

* * *

 **The Arctic, 16th October 2010:**

The Team take their positions, hiding behind mounds of ice, surrounding the lone, hovering alien craft. They were all dressed in variations of their suits that better suited the polar climate. Matt perceives radio waves of various frequencies being emitted and collected by a small spherical component of the alien ship's right wing. He could also hear some odd shuffling within the spacecraft, which he assumes were the pilots.

He informs the Team of this over the psychic link and a cloaked M'gann takes her position above her target. Her eyes glow a faint green and she extends her hand. The communications array of the spacecraft is violently wrenched away by her telekinesis. ' _Communication disabled,_ ' she thinks over the link. She makes a fist and the alien ship falls on top of the ice. ' _Propulsion disabled._ '

Artemis exits her cover and fires an arrow at the circular window at the front of the ship. The arrow hits the ship and covers the window with red foam. The cannon atop the spacecraft shoots wildly at Artemis' general direction, hitting every bit of ice as it could. ' _ET's are sealed inside,_ ' she informs the Team.

Beneath the ice, Aqualad swims upwards, where the ship was trapped and breaks through the ice with his water bearers. He manipulates the ice and allows half the ship to submerge into the water. He leaps on top of the ship and the cannon swivels to the left. Kaldur braces himself, seeing an orange beam being charged up.

Wolf leaps towards the cannon and steers it away from Aqualad with the laser simply firing into empty air. Superboy joins Aqualad on top the ship and grabs the cannon, keeping it in place. Kid Flash runs past the ship with Robin in his arms and the Boy Wonder is given a boost to help him leap onto the ship as well.

Robin pulls up his wrist-mounted display and shows Miss Martian where the structural weak points and integration sites were for the alien ship's cannon. She looks at the points which he labelled and nods, strategically applying her telekinesis to those areas. The metal that supported the cannon breaks down and Superboy hoists it upwards, trying not to separate it from the main ship too quickly.

Matt notices two smaller cables dangling behind Connor and could feel the energy being built up within them. He calls out to Superboy but he was too engrossed in his task to hear Matt's warning. Wolf's ears perk up and he jumps forward and pushes Connor away, allowing the energy blast to disintegrate him instead.

' _Wolf,'_ Miss Martian thinks over the link, somewhat mournfully.

Robin takes a moment to check the readings in his wrist. ' _There wasn't any indication of feedback. I'm sorry._ '

Superboy shakes his head, ' _Nothing we can do for him now,_ ' he thinks. He gets back into place and he rips the cannon off of the alien ship. M'gann calls over the Bioship and Superboy leaps on top of it, hoisting the alien cannon in the air.

M'gann places her hands on the Bioship and the organic metal lights up with a green web-like pattern in response. The organic material of the Bioship spirals upward as small tentacle-like projections latch onto the cables that were dangling from the canon Superboy was lifting.

' _Rerouting systems to integrate alien weapon into ship's biomatrix. I'll need to decamouflage for a few minutes,_ ' she informs the Team over the link. Matt tilts his head, hearing a few objects break the sound barrier in the distance.

' _You don't have a few minutes,_ ' Matt thinks as two more scout ships zoom overhead. He needed that weapon in their arsenal but M'gann still needed time to integrate it into the Bioship. They were pressed for time and he could think of only one course of action.

' _Artemis, give Miss Martian some cover. Everyone else, head inside while she does,_ ' Matt orders via the link. Artemis nods and pulls out three arrows and fires them simultaneously. They explode in mid-air and make the ships veer slightly off-course. The other members of the Team huddle around the Bioship, waiting for it to open up for them.

Artemis fires another set of arrows and both of them strike the ships directly. One of them flies into a mountain, burying it within tones of snow and the other crashes into the ice, less than a hundred feet away from Artemis, who started to make her way towards the Bioship. The second spacecraft turns its cannon towards Artemis and charges up its energy beam.

' _Artemis. Behind you,_ ' Miss Martian warns her mentally. Artemis turns around and draws her bow, ready to attack the alien craft again. But she was not fast enough. The cannon fires and hits Artemis, reducing her to nothing.

The entire Team stands in shock, seeing what just transpired. "Artemis!" M'gann shouts out loud.

Aqualad removes his water bearers from his back and tells everyone to get inside. His tattoos glow and he sends a large torrent of water towards the fallen ship. He raises his arms and lifts the ship in the air by forming a large tornado made of water. Kalder brings his arms closer to each other and crushes the ship, rendering it completely useless.

Matt slowly walks towards where Artemis was disintegrated and kneels down and touches the ice. He felt no trace of her. No hair. No ash. Nothing. It was as if she was never there at all. He feels something poking out of the ice and picks it up. He runs his finger along it and discovers that it was a broken arrow shaft.

 _I did this,_ He thinks to himself. Matt yells out and kicks a large chunk of ice away in a rage.

"They're dead. Every single alien. If it's the last thing I do," Wally declares out loud, anger dripping with his every word.

* * *

Matt sits in his seat on the Bioship, too stunned to speak. He notices Artemis' empty chair as he holds her broken arrow and bows his head in shame. He had given her the order to fire on the enemy ships. She went out onto the open ice, despite the obvious threat to her life because of him. He closes his eyes behind his mask and recalls the sound he heard when Artemis disappeared. Her flesh shearing away, her heartbeat simply popping out of earshot. The brief spike in her adrenaline when the beam hit her.

He felt a cold pressure build up in his chest and tears start to sting his eyes. The taste of blood enters his memory.

 _Her_ blood.

Matt growls and takes in a deep breath, utilising his breathing techniques to stay calm. He could not afford to think about _her_ right now. His mind wanders about the state of his brother and mother. Whether or not they survived. She was in a coma. _Would the hospital even bother to get her out?_

Matt scolds himself. _No distractions,_ he thinks to himself.

He hears Wally slamming the console in front of him in anger. Matt could feel his friend's heartbreak. His anguish. On any other day, he would try to console him. But, he knew how blinding those emotions were. M'gann was sitting beside the Speedster, crying her eyes out, unable to contain herself.

It would be so easy. To break down like them. To lose himself in a sea of emotion as he came to terms with what he had just lost. With whom he lost. But Matt could feel everyone's sadness hanging over them in the Bioship like a guillotine. He needed to put aside his feelings. For the sake of his teammates.

Matt stands up, "I know it might seem insensitive but we don't have the luxury of mourning right now. These things are killing hundreds of us every minute and unless we get a grip, their sacrifices… Artemis' sacrifice will be in vain," Daredevil says with a commanding tone. He knew that that wasn't exactly a rousing speech but Matt needed to them be objective.

M'gann was whipping her tears and Wally was still cursing the aliens but at least they were paying Matt their attention.

"The people of earth need to know that we are making a stand," Aqualad says, standing beside Matt. He nods in agreement, understanding that seeing them in action would bolster the morale of the human race. Though they needed to be smart about it.

"Are we headed back to the Cave?" M'gann asks, sniffling whilst Connor held her hand.

Daredevil slowly shakes his head. "No. Set a course to the Hall of Justice."

* * *

 **Washington DC, 16th October 2010:**

A tattered American flag waves in the air as the military fires everything they had at the enemy ships. Squadrons of soldiers shot at the ships overhead alongside a row of tanks, defending the White House. The spacecraft manoeuvred so that the shells from the tanks miss and they fire at the vehicles, making the surrounding soldiers scatter as the majority of their firepower is disintegrated.

They look up defeated and ready to accept their fate till one of the ships burst into flames and crashes below. They see a red craft fly above the aliens and a young man wearing a black t-shirt exits the vehicle and lands on one of the alien ships, tearing into its cannon with his bare hands.

The ship falls to the ground with the third one being taken out by a laser from the red ship. The unknown individual walks up to the soldiers, having single-handedly crushed the alien ship he was currently standing on. The Bioship lands beside him and an array of young heroes exit making the soldiers cheer. On closer inspection, the soldiers see the iconic 'S' on the black-shirted teenager's chest.

"See. It is Superman. I told you he wouldn't abandon us," a young private says, nudging his friend.

"I'm not sure. Looks a little young to be Superman. Where's the cape?" the other soldier asks.

Connor sharply turns his head towards the two. "I'm not Superman," he says defensively.

"I don't care who you are son. And right now I don't care. You wear the S and got the job done," an older soldier tells Connor.

Superboy looks away. "I'm not Superman," he says quietly.

"Tell that to the enemy," the older soldier replies. "General Wade Eiling, U.S Airforce," he says saluting the heroes.

Matt walks towards him. "Daredevil. Justice League. We'll help you and your men salvage as many of the alien's cannons as we can. Then we take the fight back to them," he says spitefully.

The Team and the soldiers make their way to the Hall of Justice, with a line of soldiers surrounding the Halls perimeter with ground vehicles that had conventional projectile weaponry. The young heroes enter the Halls now ruined entrance. Visitors to the Hall would usually be greeted by tall, golden statues of the members of the Justice League, standing over them like Greek gods. But now, much like their live counterparts, the statues were in ruins.

Robin walks towards the fallen statue of Batman, whose head was split in half on the floor. "Bruce," he mutters under his breath, placing a hand on the statue. Matt could hear Robin's teeth grinding and his heart rate rising. The Justice League was dead and at that moment, he and every other member of the Team had no choice but to accept that fact.

"They're really gone aren't they?" Dick asks though he made it sound like a statement. Matt places his hand gently on Robin's shoulder. He had no words of encouragement. Just a memory. One they would need to cherish since that was all that was left of Bruce.

He perceives the silhouette of Bruce's statue and another memory floods his mind. A face. The last face he ever saw. Matt hits his head hard, trying to use the pain to distance himself from the memory of _her_. Luckily for him, a distraction came in the form of an unknown heartbeat that suddenly appeared beneath the rubble that used to be the statue of Martian Manhunter.

"M'gann," he says, pointing at the statue. She wipes her tears and feels a familiar presence. She raises her arms and telekinetically lifts the remains of the statue off of the ground. What lies beneath the rubble shocked everyone in the room.

"Uncle J'onn!" M'gann says excitedly. She levitates towards her uncle but Aqualad steps in front of Martian Manhunter.

' _M'gann. Check his mind. Make sure he is who he appears to be,_ ' Kaldur tells her telepathically. Miss Martian places two fingers on her temple and her eyes glow a bright green.

She smiles widely, ' _It's him. He's real,_ ' she informs the Team joyfully. She helps J'onn up and the older martian places a hand on his head, his thoughts incoherent.

"But we saw you get vaporized. You and Superman," Connor says.

"Yes. I remember. But I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here," Martian Manhunter says. His speech was slow and methodical as if he needed to put a supreme amount of effort into every word he said.

"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed through you," M'gann suggested.

"Scrambling your brains along the way," Robin added eagerly.

J'onn considers this line of thought. "My mind is… clouded. I was certain that I had something important I wanted to tell you all," he says slowly.

Wally thinks for a few seconds till an idea flashes in his head. "Hello, Wally. Come on," he says looking at Robin.

The two walk outside the Hall and towards the Bioship. Robin analyses the cannon they attached to the ship and the readings make Wally very happy. ' _I knew it. Look, it's giving off Zeta beams. Like the ones that power our Zeta tubes. Artemis is alive. It's not a disintegration beam. It's a teleport!_ ' he thinks excitedly over the link, grabbing Robin's shoulders.

Robin combs through the data again. ' _Maybe but..._ '

' _No maybes. They're all alive,_ ' Wally thinks.

' _That must be what you wanted to tell us_ ,' M'gann thinks, looking at her uncle.

Matt scratches his chin. ' _Let's not jump the gun here._ _You're twisting the facts to suit a theory. It's a stretch, Wally,'_ Matt thinks sceptically over the psychic link.

' _It makes perfect sense. Just come over and look at the data. Not look - more like…_ ' Wally began but Matt interrupts him.

' _More incoming. Jesus, fifteen. No, wait, twenty ships. ETA one minute. Miss M camo the Bioship and get her inside_ ,' Matt thinks urgently. But before M'gann could command the ship telepathically one of the alien ships shoots a beam at the Bioship, disintegrating it. Robin and Kid Flash hide behind a humvee for cover and M'gann and J'onn fall to the ground, reeling from the psychic feedback.

Aqualad helps Martian Manhunter get up and Superboy does the same for M'gann. He eyes were wide open and twitching uncontrollably. "That didn't feel like… " she began to say weekly.

' _We're falling back_ ,' Robin informs the team. He, Kid Flash and a handful of soldiers run into the Hall of Justice. The sound of bullets and missiles firing into the air was heard by everyone. Matt hears the alien ships circling the Hall, taking out every vehicle the soldiers had.

He places a hand on the floor, using his senses to feel the reverberations in the ground, getting an accurate layout of the building. He feels a mechanical object in the library and he orders the Team as well as the soldiers in the Hall to follow him.

The soldiers enter the library first and kneel on the ground, aiming their rifles at the door, the only point of entry as everyone else followed. "We can Zeta to the caves. If you can grant us access clearance to access the tubes," Aqualad tells Martian Manhunter, understanding Matt's reasoning for coming here.

"I can only grant access to allow us to enter one at a time," J'onn says.

Matt hisses in frustration. "Ok. Send the soldiers in first," he says.

"Belay that order. The seven of you are assets we cannot afford to lose," General Eiling says, pointing his rifle at the entrance as well. Matt hears the fighting come to a halt outside the Hall and realizes that the wisdom in the general's words. They hadn't the time to get everyone to safety.

Matt nods reluctantly and J'onn stands in front of the Zeta tube, allowing a ray of light to scan him. "Override. Martian Manhunter. 07," J'onn says.

The computer accepts the input and the metal door opens up to reveal the Zeta platform, firing up to transport the heroes. The Team line up and J'onn makes M'gann enter first. Robin follows moments afterwards. Matt pushes Wally onto the platform as he hears the alien weapons charging behind the entrance to the library.

Matt covers his face with his arms as the door is blasted away, launching some debris in the air. A large piece of concrete falls on top of one of the soldiers and Superboy jumps in and lifts it up, using it as a shield to block a weaker blast from the aliens. Without even taking a second to think Matt throws a few smoke bombs in the alien's direction and they start firing wildly. He rushes into the smoke, ducking underneath a laser and grabs the soldier and takes him towards the Zeta tubes.

Connor throws a piece of rubble into one of the ships cannons and runs behind Matt. "He's next," Connor says.

"I know. But the three of you are going in after," Matt says, helping the young soldier get onto the platform. The soldier thanks Connor, addressing him as _Superman_. Superboy follows, dismissing the comment. The smoke dissipates and Daredevil grabs Martian Manhunter and pushes him into the Zeta tubes, which teleports him away.

Matt steps in front of Aqualad as the alien ship charges its cannon. "Get out of here," he says, drawing his Billy Clubs. Though his attention was diverted when he hears a spike in Aqualad's heart rate.

"They need you more than they need me," Aqualad says. He lifts Matt by the shoulder and with all his strength he throws him into the Zeta tube. Matt screams out in shock and tries to reach out towards Kaldur. But he could feel his body being transported by the Zeta beams. Though he remained just long enough to hear Kaldur's heartbeat vanish and his body disintegrate.

* * *

Matt falls onto the floor of the cave and the Zeta tubes shut down. He runs towards the closed, metal doors and bangs on them frantically. He starts to type in some coordinates but Connor holds him back. "You can't go back," he tells Matt who was squirming in his iron grasp.

"I can still save him. I have to save him," Matt says with a berserkers rage. Connor refuses to let go of him and Robin walks towards them.

"I'm sorry Matt. He's gone," Robin says. Matt bites his lip and he stops struggling. Connor tentatively lets him go and Matt takes off his helmet and slams it into the ground. He suppresses a scream and he walks towards the soldier.

Wally runs in front of him. "It's alright. He's with Artemis and the others. We can still get them back," he tells Matt with a hopeful tone.

Matt smirks at the Speedster cynically, "Keep telling yourself that," he says, walking away from Kid Flash. Robin pulls on Wally's arm, telling him to lay off of Matt for a while. Matt helps the soldier up and takes him to the med-bay.

"I'm sorry," the soldier says. His head was slumped and he didn't even try to look Matt in the eye. "He should be here not me. I'm just dead weight."

"Don't apologize," Matt says swiftly, ignoring the ache in his chest. "Aqualad would be glad you made it out alive." He takes the soldier to the med-bay and starts patching up his wounds. Matt removes a vial from his belt and holds it in his hand for a few moments. Elektra used its contents whenever Matt needed urgent medical attention.

 _Elektra._

Matt closes his eyes and opens the vial with a loud pop. He gently applies it on the soldiers bruised ribs which made him let out a painful cry. Which worked in Matt's favour, since it made sure the soldier didn't see the beads forming in the corners of his eyes.

They consider the soldier's words with a sense of sorrow. They had never been in a situation this grim before. Though Wally remained optimistic.

Robin claps his hands and gets their attention. The remaining members of the Team walk towards a holographic globe that Robin pulled up. "Our next mission is clear. _If_ we believe that the aliens are teleporting their victims… "

"We do," Wally says.

"Then the only reasonable detention facility is here," Robin says, highlighting an area on the map, ignoring Wally's outburst. "Their mothership. Atop what used to be Smallville. Ring any bells?" Robin asks Martian Manhunter.

The older hero shakes his head. "No. I am sorry."

"Superboy. You'll create a distraction," Robin says.

"No," M'gann says in protest.

Matt marches up to the Team with a scowl. "I'm not authorizing that," he says firmly.

"Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat. Motivating the aliens to deploy," Robin says.

"Worst case, he just gets teleported inside. And we set him free along with Artemis. And the others," Wally adds.

"And what if you're wrong? You'd be sending Connor to his death. That's not happening on my watch. I'm not losing anyone else," Matt says in a slow but deliberate manner. Letting them know how serious he was.

Robin walks up to him, standing inches away from his face. "It's one life versus the rest of the world."

A whirlpool of anger floods Matt as he uses every ounce of his willpower to refrain himself from striking Robin. He and Kato had a similar argument months ago and Matt's stance has not shifted an inch.

"I'm not judging my friend's life based on math. Besides, it's not _your_ choice to make," Matt says, with a threatening undertone.

"No. It's mine," Connor says.

Shocked expressions find their way on both M'gann and Matt's faces. "It's ok guys. It's what Superman… dad would do," Connor says, trying to reassure his friends.

"You're not wrong about that," Matt says, picking his helmet back up. Regardless of Matt's reservations, Superboy made his decision. He decided to fight. Now they needed to make sure the world chose to do the same.

* * *

The people of earth look to the skies in terror. Civilians were cowering in fear, taking shelter beneath the ground in bunkers and subway tracks. Within buildings and army bases. The soldiers of earth were rapidly losing hope, seeing every effort they make against the alien threat be in vain.

A young man walks towards his sister with a cup of coffee in his hands and sees that she was watching something on her phone. He sits down and sees that everyone one else was doing the same thing.

All across the globe, the Team were broadcasting a message on every working screen.

"And though we know all seems lost, the one thing that the aliens cannot take is hope," M'gann says in front of the camera.

"Hope survives because the battle is not over. Not while there's one one of us willing to fight," Connor says confidently after her.

The shot turns to Wally. "It doesn't matter how many fall. New heroes will always rise to carry on. Bringing all their resources and skills to defeat the enemy."

"The people of the earth will survive this. We will defeat the enemy," Robins says.

Daredevil steps in. "And when what's left of these things fly back to the stars, they will speak of the earth. They will speak of her people. Our resourcefulness, our tenacity. And they will tell each and every would-be conqueror out there. That this planet. Is. _Defended_ ," he says triumphantly.

Everyone who was watching the video cheers in joy, filled with the determination to carry on. A few minutes after the broadcast ends the Zeta beams in the cave fire up. Multiple heroes emerge from them. Red Arrow, Zatanna, Rocket, Garth and Tula. All ready to continue the fight.

Robin wraps two utility belts around his torso which had multiple canisters attached to them. Matt readies his swords. Feeling their edge against his fingers. He and Robin give the newcomers their orders. After the briefing everyone walks towards the Zeta tubes. Anxious but ready.

This was going to be the fight of their lives.

* * *

 **Kansas, Smallville, 16th October 2010:**

Saying that the mother ship was large was an understatement. It was much taller than any building on earth and formed a large crater where Smallville used to be.

Matt could hear scores of smaller ships buzzing around within the mother ship. Like a hoard of termites in a grand mansion. Robin wondered why they didn't have any ships on the outside and Matt pointed out all the guns and turrets that peppered the outer surface of the ship.

Standing a half mile away on a cliff side were Robin, Daredevil and Miss Martian. The boy wonder was scouting the area with his binoculars whilst Matt did the same with his enhanced senses.

It was decided by the two that only M'gann, J'onn, Connor, Wally and themselves would be needed for this mission. The rest of the heroes were elsewhere, with tasks of their own.

After they both made sure that the coast was clear Robin turns towards Miss Martian. "Stay close to J'onn," he says. "He's still a little… fuzzy."

She nods and looks towards her uncle who telepathically informs the group that he was ready. Matt tilts his head in Dick's direction, "Hope this works."

Robin didn't respond. He didn't want to cloud his mind with any sort of doubt. He turns around and looks at the group behind him. "First team deploy."

Miss Martian and her uncle cloak themselves and fly towards the mother ship with J'onn leading the way and holding M'gann's hand. In a few moments, they reach the ship, the turrets being unaware of their presence. J'onn touches his surface and alters his density to let him phase through the surface of the ship and altered his niece's density to allow her to do the same.

After getting over some momentary discomfort, M'gann informs the rest of the Team that they were inside. " _Be careful_ _Connor. I love you,_ " she tells him privately using her telepathy.

Connor smiles, though he does not reply. No words needed to be spoken. Matt heard the increase in his heart rate and taps him on the shoulder. The last thing they needed was their big gun getting distracted.

Robin nods and Superboy squats down. He slaps his hands across his knees and he launches himself in the air, generating a sizable breeze that made Robin's hair and cape flutter. Connor leaps across the surface of the ship, denting it whenever he did. He gets behind a turret and rips it from the surface. The metal crumbles in his grasp and he lifts it up, taking care not to sever the cables.

"Alright, you glorified trespassers. You wanna see how a real alien fights?" he shouts out. The cannon held charged up a beam and Connor turns it around, letting it melt away the turrets that were closest to him.

Large panels slide down from the surface of the mother ship and multiple smaller ships fly out of the hangers. Connor sees them all with his enhanced vision. Luckily, thanks to how large the ship was it would be a while before they reached him.

" _It's now or never,_ " Connor says over the link.

He sees Kid Flash - who was carrying Daredevil and Robin on his back - running towards the edge of the cliff which was level with one of the opened panels. Wally pushes himself the last few feet and with the momentum he gained leaps in a straight line right into the hanger like are of the ship.

The three rolls on the floor as Wally stumbles when he lands. Matt pulls him behind a wall, allowing him to catch his breath. Robin hides behind the adjacent wall and the three wait till three drones pass by in the next corridor.

They run through the corridor, hiding behind any nearby structure when one of the drones pass by. Matt hears Superboy firing on the alien ships outside. He could hear the Martians flying in the opposite corridor, he signals them through the link, informing them of his location. He ears perk up and Matt slides his sword out from its sheath and turns around, slicing one of the drones in half as it hovered down from a vent above.

Both Martians reach them just seconds afterwards and they make their way along the empty corridor, towards the core of the ship. As they were running along, Matt was tracking the heartbeats of every member of their team. He hears the Superboy's cannon getting destroyed by one of the alien ships and could feel his feet denting the surface of the mother ship as the Kryptonian started to leap away.

Matt stops cold in his tracks and Miss Martian collapses. J'onn helps her up and Robin nudges Daredevil's arm. "He's gone," Matt says quietly, hearing the sound of his heartbeat pop out of existence.

Wally places his hands on M'gann's shoulders. ' _It's alright. He's gone back to Artemis. I know it,_ ' he thinks over the link.

' _No. I remember clearly now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility. No prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose,_ ' J'onn thinks.

Wally grabs J'onn by his cape, ' _But the Zeta radiation proves she's alive,_ ' he thinks over the link.

Matt pulls Wally away from J'onn and pushes him against a wall. ' _They're dead. Ok. I can't sense any signs of life other than ours. Connor, Artemis, Kaldur, Elektra, they are all gone. And there's nothing on God's earth that can bring them back!_ ' he thinks angrily, applying more pressure on the speedster.

' _But our mission still holds purpose. To destroy this mother_ ship,' Robin thinks gently pulling Matt away from Wally. Robin turns his back towards them and starts to lead the way towards the core of the ship. M'gann briefly holds Wally's hand to try and comfort him and she follows Robin.

The five run through the mother ship for a few minutes and eventually reach the core. Within its centre was a bright yellow orb which was surrounded by various small drones and had an incomplete sphere containing its power.

' _We rupture that things surface and it'll release enough energy to blow this ship to smithereens_ ,' Matt informs them, feeling overwhelmed by the power the orb was producing.

Robin and Matt leap down towards some platforms that were suspended in mid-air. They do this a few times but when they were around forty feet away from the main core they start to lose their footing. They could feel themselves being pulled towards the core and their feet slide across the surface they were standing on.

Matt grabs Robin and uses his Billy club to shoot a line upwards but it shoots past one of the platforms and misses. Kid Flash runs across the platforms and grabs the line and helps it to grab onto one of the surfaces. Robin and Matt loosen their bodies and let the line suspend them in mid-air, with the core still pulling on them. Wally slides down the line as the Martians use their telekinesis to help lower the three humans directly on to the surface of the core.

While the Martians took care of the handful of drones near the core, Robin removes the belts he had across his chest and started to prime the canisters that they stored. Wally hears the canisters beeping and a look of realization appears on his face, "You knew. You knew from the beginning why we were really here," he tells Dick.

"We have four minutes," Robin says, displaying a timer on his wrist.

The five escape the core room and head back the way they came. Matt hears the bay doors close, blocking off their only exit. "Perfect," Wally says sarcastically. Matt tries to use his enchanted sword to cut through the door, he grunts as he tries to make his blade pass through it but be lacked the strength to make any worthwhile damage.

"Manhunter, take M'gann and phase out of here. We'll escape some other way," Matt says.

M'gann protests, "No. You can't."

"He gave you an order. Go," Robin says.

She tells them to find another way out and she passes through the door with her uncle. Robin displays his timer but Matt did not need to see it to know that they were not going to make it. He nods to his friends, hearing a hoard of enemies coming towards them.

They escape cover and draw their weapons, yelling out loud as they charged towards the enemy. Matt feels their lasers charging up and he could feel his heart become calm. He grips his sword as he feels his body turn to nothing.

He was finally laid to rest.

* * *

Matt opens his eyes with a loud gasp. He falls down on the floor and runs his hands through his hair. He starts patting himself down, to check if what he was feeling was real. He hears a quite set of footsteps coming towards him and Matt leaps at the source.

"Easy now," a gravelly voice says, catching Matt by the wrist. Matt tilts his head and focuses on the cadence of the voice.

"Bruce? What? No. You're… you're alive?" he says with absolute disbelief. He wraps his hands around Batman in a tight embrace. He closes his eyes as he feels Bruce's arms awkwardly try and reciprocate the gesture. Matt hears the entire Team behind him, along with Martian Manhunter, Wolf and Captain Marvel.

He lets go of Bruce and takes a seat. His body feels stiff and he lifts his shirt to examine his torso. His wounds from his fight from Davos were now present and his head was still ringing slightly.

"What happened?" he asks on behalf of everyone on the Team.

He listens to the Leaguer's explanation. How they were put into a psychic training simulation that was always meant to make the situation harder and harder no matter what the Team did. How they were consciously aware to some extent that this was all fake and how when Artemis died, M'gann's subconscious made everyone believe that the simulation was real.

"It all of us dying for you to remember all this?" he asks J'onn. The Martian nods and apologizes to the whole Team. M'gann starts balling her eyes out and Captain Marvel embraces her.

Matt walks up to Batman and asks, "When did you guys put us under?"

"Only a few hours ago," he responds.

Matt checks his braille watch for the date. It was the 16th of October.

 _The day after the funeral,_ Matt thinks. Of course, the events of _that_ night were real. Why wouldn't they be?

His phone vibrates and he picks it up, hearing the person talking on the other side. "I need to go now," he tells Bruce. Matt walks towards the Zeta platform with a slouched back.

Why did this have to be real?

* * *

Matt places his mother's hand in his hand as the doctor explains her condition to him and his brother. Though he blocked all that out, only focusing on her. He breathing was shallow and her heart was beating weakly, even by the standards of a coma patient. Matt could hear her liver slowly lose its function.

The doctor tells them that any attempt to operate on her would be fatal. They have no other choice other than to turn off her life support. Mark hears this and almost collapses. Matt stands up and walks up to the doctor, tired of hearing his lifeless voice. "Can you give us a minute?"

After the doctor leaves Matt walks up to Mark and offers him a hand. "Come on," he whispers, helping him get up. They take a seat and Matt starts to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Mark asks irately.

"Remember that time when she caught us stealing ice-cream from Mrs Rog's place?" Matt asks.

Mark nods, "Yeah, she made us eat ten tubs of that stuff as a punishment. I puked for two hours straight," he says with a smirk.

"I fell asleep with my face planted inside some rocky road. It took me days to wash that out of my hair," Matt says.

The two start laughing awkwardly. "God, I miss her," Matt says.

"She'd be proud. Of you I mean," Mark says after a brief pause, patting his brother on the back.

Matt stays silent, focusing on his mother's liver. "She's dying," he says faintly.

Mark was the adult here, so only he could give the doctors permission to turn the life support off. "I can't. I just can't," he says. Matt tastes the salt from his brother's tears and holds his hand.

"We can't leave her like this. Lying in a bed with tubes filling her with drugs," Matt says. He imagines how Elektra would have felt as she died. The pain, the feeling of loneliness. The cold. At least he could give his mother a comfortable farewell.

The doctor enters the room again and looks at Mark expectantly. Matt grabs Mark's hand and they both nod. The doctor puts on his glasses and Matt hears him turning off various dials and switches.

He walks out of the room and Matt sits down, listening as his mother's heartbeat slowly faded away. Mark walks up to her body and takes her hand. He screams and lets out a fountain of tears. Matt didn't feel like crying. He's already shed too many.

Matt breathes quietly and takes out his mask from his backpack. He rests his head against it, feeling its surface cool his skin. He felt like he was stuck in a loop. So many scenes replay in his mind. His father burning in front of him, him crushing Mary's head, Elektra's limp body in his arms and now this.

Moments like this demand a prayer but all Matt had was the devil. And now he couldn't even rely on that anymore.

* * *

 **Well. That happened.**

 **I would talk more but I am super sleepy. Got to wake up early tomorrow.**

 **Responding to non-PM comments.**

 **TheKike: Nooooo . . Elektra !, because. . . WHY!. . . BECAUSE YOU DID IT, IT DOES NOT MERE, Matt is losing many loved ones, he does not deserve it, now the failed simulation approaches zero and Matt resists, he only needs that you also associate him with someone from the team like Artemis or with Lux, give him a little joy to Matt, the poor man is suffering**

 **Me: Unfortunatly, Matt suffering and overcoming his emotions is his entire thing. Sorry to say but his suffering isn't over yet.**

 **Alright. I must sleep. But don't worry Matt's going to have a little break next episode. If you consider therapy and contemplating your entire life a break.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disordered:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, 22nd October, 2010:**

"You sure about this?" Marks asks placing flowers on the grave stone. Matt nods, taking in the scent of the pollen. The wind was cold and the air was moist. As usual, Matt was distracted by all the people grieving around him. Their tears made the air taste bitter and their sniveling made Matt want to curl up in a ball and pull his coat over his ears, just to drown it all out. But he couldn't.

The two stand over their mother's grave silently. Matt could feel his knuckles whiten as he grasps his cane. He had so much to say but couldn't form the words. He shakes his head, unable to tolerate the grim atmosphere of the grave yard.

"Let's go," Matt says in a neutral tone. He picks up his duffel bag and slings it over his shoulder. Mark pats him on the shoulder and they head towards his car. "I'll walk. You head back home."

Mark reluctantly nods. He had spent the best part of a week watching Matt sit motionless in his room. He barely ate and only got out of bed to train. He was just glad that his little brother was moving at all.

The sound of the engine sputtering to life filled Matt's ears and he crossed the street as his brother drove off. He taps his cane on the sidewalk and walks forwards. He grips his bag harder as he hears someone breaking into a nearby house. He walks to other side of the road and ignores it.

A block away the sound of a man being assaulted by two assailants with knives enter his ears. He breaths slowly and blocks out that noise. But he couldn't block everything out. All throughout the city there were people screaming. People begging, praying and pleading.

All he heard for nine years was pain and suffering and the noise was driving him mad. But he didn't show it.

Why should he? When did that ever help him?

Matt was so focused on drowning out all the background noise that he failed to notice a group of men walking right towards him. His shoulder collides with one of them but Matt does not acknowledge it. He tries to walk away, without even apologizing. The three call out, demanding he stop but their demands fall on deaf ears.

"Hey. Where you goin'?" one of the men asks in a thick Russian accent. Matt recognizes the voice.

 _Enforcers for the Bratva. Of course I'd run into them,_ he thinks. Matt turns around and the men surround him. "I think you me apology," the man asks inches away from Matt's face.

"I'm sorry. Didn't see you there," Matt says sarcastically. One of the men grabs his glasses and then waves his hand in front of Matt's eyes. They start talking in Russian, mocking Matt and they start cracking jokes, most of them related to his disability.

One of them puts their hand in Matt's pocket and pulls out his wallet. He goes through its contents and was thoroughly disappointed by what he found. A couple dollars, some petty change and a few coupons. He was about to throw it away till he finds a small picture.

"Look at this," the man says, showing the photo off to his friends. Matt stood there, with a red face and a large frown. He knew who was on that picture and he knew why they were so interested in it. "How'd this _cyka_ get her?" one of them asks in an American accent. His Russian wasn't that good.

"I'd like that back please," Matt says quietly. Elektra put that picture in his wallet as a joke. A dumb joke to be sure but he hadn't many things left of her.

The three laugh and the one Matt bumped into takes the photo in his hands and slowly tears it to small pieces. The friends laugh some more and Matt hisses, "Shouldn't have done that."

Matt drops his duffel bag to the ground with a loud bang, sending a small cloud of dust upwards. The three Russians gawk at the site. They never expected the bag to be that heavy. Matt pushes the man who tore the picture into a wall, making him slump to the ground.

One man tries to pull a gun from his pants but Matt delivers a swift kick to his hand as he grabs the weapon, making him shoot himself in a less than ideal part of the body. He screams and rolls on the ground and Matt takes in a deep breath, reveling in the smell of iron from the warm blood.

The last man runs away but Matt did not bother running after him. He picked up the gun from his fallen comrade and threw it at the man, hitting him in the back of the head, knocking him spark out.

He walks up to the man he knocked over. The man who tore up his picture. Matt lifts him by the collar, tearing the man's expensive shirt. He could feel the smooth silk threads brush his face.

"I was trying really hard not to get in a fight. And you had to ruin it, didn't you?" Matt asks rhetorically in Russian. The enforcer's lips start quivering as Matt pinned him against a wall with his elbow against his neck.

"It was just a picture," he managed to spit out. Matt responded by slamming his head into a window, breaking it. A few shards make their way into the man's face and he yells out. Matt covers his mouth again and removes a knife from the man's belt. He places the edge on top of the man's finger and the yelling stops. He shakes his head frantically, trying to beg Matt not to do it.

Matt drives the knife into his finger slowly, twisting the blade through flesh and bone. His hand muffles his victim's screams and Matt pulls on the finger to pop it off of the man's hand. "That was just a finger," Matt says, throwing it into a gutter. "Next time you harass someone I'll take away something a bit more precious."

He tears a piece of cloth off of the man's shirt and wipes away the blood from his hands and face. He uses another piece to wipe off any finger prints he might have left behind. Matt pockets both pieces of cloth and picks up his duffel bag. The two Russians he attacked were bleeding on the floor but they had not need to worry. Matt could hear an ambulance coming their way.

* * *

"What happened?" Lakshmi asks, pointing to a patch of blood on Matt's collar.

"Cut myself shaving."

"Right. And I guess the news of three alleged Bratva members being assaulted on the street had nothing to do with you?"

Matt shrugs, "I had nothing to do with that."

Lux sighs and places a hand on his knee. "Matt," she says sympathetically.

"I didn't start the fight. Honest," he says, holding her hand gently.

She takes a look at his face, seeing how vulnerable Matt looked as he said that. "Ok. I believe you. But about the other thing. Are you sure about this?" she asks.

Matt nods, "Yeah. I can't put on that mask anymore. It feels wrong," he says, gesturing towards his duffel bag. Lux shuffles towards it and opens it up, looking at its contents. All his suits, helmets, Billy clubs, belts, smoke bombs and his two swords, many of which were in various states of repair were all in this one bag. Which wasn't that surprising, it was almost five feet tall and half as wide and it looked like it could fit a dead body inside of it.

Her hand goes towards her pocket and her heart rate flutters making Matt raise a brow. "What is it?" he asks.

"Your priest sort of called me. Well, not me. He called your brother who called me. He wanted to give you a message," she says, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. Matt hears it slide out of her jeans and he takes it out of her hands. The ink was fresh and the paper warm, clearly the text on it was recently printed.

Matt runs his fingers over the ink and a look of confusion finds his face. "Is this real?"

She nods briefly. Matt picks up one of his helmets and holds it in the air. It felt like he was holding a blood soaked skull. Just touching it made his body recall every moment of pain he's felt over the last year. "One last time," he says weakly, "Then I'm done. With all of this."

Lux turns Matt around and pulls him in for a hug. "I'm always here for you. You know that right? No matter what you choose to do," she says. Matt smells the orchids in her room, clearly a trait Lux gained from Elektra.

"I know," he says with a small smile. "You always are."

She turns around as Matt puts on his costume and when she turns back, her window was open and he was gone along with the duffel bag. She sighs and collapses on her bed, hugging her pillow for comfort. She scrolls through her phone and sees pictures of her, Matt and Elektra. She turns her phone off and she curls herself into a ball.

So much has changed.

* * *

Matt walks down the aisle of the Cathedral in full Devil gear, much to the amusement of Father Lantholm. "You know, I am sure there's a joke here somewhere," he says jovially. The image of the Devil walking freely in God's house had some irony to it. Matt rolls his eyes behind his mask.

"Look. Father, I really don't want to waste any more time. Where is he?"

Father Lantholm clears his throat. He knew the broad strokes of what Matt had been through the past week and for a moment forgot that he was on the verge of quitting this life all together till he called him over.

"I'm sorry Matthew. I know I'm asking a lot of you but… "

"It's alright. Give me sec. Found him. Any advice?"

The priest smiles, "Just be yourself Matthew."

 _Myself? Right, whatever that means,_ he thinks. Matt walks down to the storage area of the church. It had a secret passageway to the neighboring orphanage that the Church ran. He used to sneak in there as a kid and made a decent bit of cash selling candy to the orphan kids. Father Lantholm always caught him but he never made a big deal out of it. Just as long as Matt donated the money he earned to the orphanage.

Matt smiles, even before the accident he always knack for getting into trouble. The children were all asleep and the nuns were aware of Matt's purpose here. So he did not need to bother sneaking around, though he instinctively avoided any old, potentially creaky floor boards. Old habits die hard.

He analyses all the heart beats and breathing rates of all the kids present. He smells glucose in one of the rooms and he stops when he reaches the door. Matt lets out a deep breath and was about to turn the knob when a thought flashes through his head.

 _This is way too tame._

Matt rushes outside and starts climbing the side of the building. He finds the window that leads into the room he wanted to enter and stops when he was level with it. He hears the sound of a young boy sleeping and taps on the glass.

After a bit more knocking the boy slowly raises out of bed and rubs his eyes. He lets out a great big yawn and looks at the window. He almost falls out of bed and was convinced that he must have been seeing things.

He paces towards the window and waves at Matt who smiles and makes a few quick gestures, telling the boy to open the window. He blinks a few times and nods, opening it wide open. Matt enters the room with a quadruple somersault and lands on top of a trunk on the other side of the room. _Gotta thank Robin for teaching me that._

The boy stares at Matt, with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Y-you're… you're really… "

"Yep."

"It's not a dream, is it?"

"Don't think so."

The boy jumps up and down and squeals in excitement. Matt chuckles and places his hands on his hip. The other boys were too far away to hear him shouting so they should be fine.

"What's your name?" Matt asks kindly, kneeling down to reach the boy's level.

"Charlie," he says meekly.

"I like that. Nice strong name."

"What're you doing here?" Charlie asks giddily.

Matt smirks, "I was in the neighborhood. What happened there?" Matt asks, pointing to Charlie's knuckles.

Charlie tries to hide his hands behind his back but Matt gently holds his hand. "Looks like you did more damage to yourself than the kid you clocked. Bully?" Matt asks.

"Yeah. But he wasn't bothering me. Rowly was pickin' on Steve so I told him to back off. He didn't so I hit him. I could have totally taken him but the nuns stopped the fight," Charlie says. Matt could tell that he was disappointed by the how that encounter went down.

"Should have gone for the nose," Matt mutters.

"What?"

"The nose. Hit the biggest guy in the nose, make his eyes water then you go to town on the body," Matt says, throwing a few punches in the air. Charlie looks at Matt's shadow boxing in awe. His hands looked like red blurs to Charlie's untrained eye.

Matt notices this and makes Charlie stand up. "Raise your hands."

Charlie gives Matt an unsure look.

"Show me what you got. Come on. You're getting free lessons from Daredevil."

That statement puts a smile on Charlie's face. He raises his arms and Matt was taken aback by how skinny his wrists were. He ignores it and tells the boy to throw a punch. Charlie swings wildly and Matt counters with a swift jab, stopping a hairs breath away from Charlie's nose. The boy freezes. He didn't even see Matt move.

"Rookie mistake. Wild haymakers are way too easy to track. You need to throw a jab. Helps you gauge distance and they can throw your opponent off guard," Matt says, moving Charlie's feet in the correct position and showing him how to throw the punch properly.

After a few minutes of this Matt goes on to drill Charlie in the basics of boxing. Jab, cross, uppercuts, hooks, footwork etc. It would take months for these moves to become instinctual but Matt was surprised by how quickly Charlie was absorbing this stuff. Most people would get bored or tired after the first fifteen minutes but he was coaching Charlie for the best part of three hours.

Matt claps his hands and tells Charlie to take a break, making the young boy nod happily, wiping his sweat using the sleeve of his pajamas. They sit down on his bed and Charlie starts sorting through a mound of books and paper. Matt takes off his glove and _reads_ a few things in his room.

Charlie had amassed quite the collection of newspaper clippings that described the various exploits of Daredevil. "You know? Most of these stories are completely made up," Matt says, pointing to an article about Daredevil fighting a black widow. Matt wasn't even sure what that meant.

"Really? But this is totally real," Charlie says, taking out a battered smart phone. Most kids in the orphanage aren't allowed to have phones but Charlie had certain privileges. He plays a video and eagerly shows it to Matt. He couldn't see the footage but he recognized certain noises. It took a minute for the audio to jog his memory but he eventually remembered where he heard the contents of the video.

"Amazo?" Matt asks.

"Yeah. That thing fought the entire League but you still tried to save that girl in the car. It was so cool. You went like this, then you zipped away like that… " Charlie says, waving his arms around excitedly. Matt started to blush. He didn't remember that day with any fondness but Charlie seemed to think it was the best thing since sliced bread. "I saw your speech you gave everyone when the fires started on YouTube. It was just amazing, you made everyone calm down and douse the fires. That was so cool.

"I started calling out all the bullies after that. I really wanted to be like you," Charlie says. "I asked the nuns if I could go and take Karate lessons or something but they said that I shouldn't. Boys like me can't do that apparently."

Matt turns away from him, "Right. Right. Say, you wanna go swinging through the city?" Matt asks, trying to divert the topic.

Charlie starts leaping up and down, "Really? Really? Really?" he asks in quick succession.

Matt draws one of his clubs and twirls it between his fingers, "I'll tie you to my back. But I'm not doing any flips in the air and you need to tell me if you start getting dizzy. Ok?"

Charlie claps enthusiastically and gives Matt a toothy smile. Matt spent about ten minutes tying Charlie to his back, making sure that he didn't restrict the boy's blood circulation too much. He slides the window wide open and asks Charlie if he was ready.

"Let's go!" he shouts out.

Matt shoots out a line from his Billy club and presses a button, sending them flying through the air. Charlie lets out a cry of exhilaration, making Matt's ears ring a tiny bit. He shakes it off and grapples to another building, increasing their altitude.

Charlie's cries of joy could be heard by everyone on the streets below. Matt wasn't used to people noticing him when grappling but he didn't care. He could smell the adrenaline coursing through the boy's body and could hear his tiny heart beating quickly. Not out of fear but sheer delight.

After about half an hour, Matt hears Charlie struggling to breathe and he slows down his pace. He lands on top of a relatively short building and lets Charlie get down. The skinny child's knees shake and he rubs his chest, trying to make himself warm.

"Sorry. Kinda forgot how cold it was," Matt says, rubbing Charlie's shoulders. He was about to reply till the sound of a gunshot filled the air. Matt lowered Charlie to the ground and he turned his head, trying to find the point of origin of the shot.

"Parking lot right below us. Seven men, all armed. All ready to send each other to kingdom come," Matt says. He hears Charlie's heart beat and sighs. He was so used to giving Elektra information about their surroundings that he spoke automatically. Now Matt was worried that he scared Charlie.

But Charlie had something else in mind, "You're going to stop it, right?" Charlie whispers.

Matt grits his teeth. _It's not your problem. Tell the kid they ran away. He'll believe you_.

"Obviously. Give me five minutes," Matt says confidently. _Five minutes? What the hell's wrong with you?_

He draws his clubs and cracks his neck. "Stay here and don't make a sound. If anything happens to me call 911 on your phone."

Charlie pulls on Matt's leg desperately, "Hey, be careful."

Matt smiles at him, "Trust me, you're in for a show."

 _My final show._

The seven men were hiding behind SUV's. Four on one side of the parking lot and three on the other. Matt could taste the blood of one member pouring out of his head. He was dead for sure.

The three men had assault rifles and the four on the other side were carrying hand guns and SMG's. All were firing at each other without even aiming properly, shooting out tires and windows. An experienced shooter would have had his buddies fire at the other side directly whilst he went around and take them out from the side.

But Matt was happy. His heart wasn't in this fight and if he had to retire after beating up a few amateurs, so be it. He snuck behind the three with the assault rifles first. He waits a few seconds for them to run out of ammo and as they start reloading Matt pounces on them. He slams two into the hard pavement simultaneously, cracking their jaws and shoulders in the process. Matt grabs the empty gun from the third man and uses the butt of the rifle to strike him in the skull, making him fumble on to the ground.

He goes around the cars in the parking lot while the four on the other side talk amongst themselves, wondering why their enemies stopped firing. They debated on whether or not they should try and approach them when a Billy club strikes one of them in the head and ricochets off the guy next to him. Matt extends his hand, grabbing his weapon as it bounced back towards him.

"So boys. Any chance you'll be smart and drop your guns?" Matt asks.

They look at each other for a brief moment and they turn back and aim their weapons at Daredevil who seemed to have just vanished. The older one out of the two walks to where Matt used to be. Matt jumps over the SUV and grabs the man from behind and slams him into the door of the SUV, denting it. He repeats the action once again and an audible crack filled in the air.

 _Three vertebrae and a few teeth. Plus a concussion. He'll be fine,_ Matt thinks coldly. The last man was sweating like he was marching in the Sahara. Matt could hear his gun shaking in his hand and after hearing his heartbeat, he realizes that the guy in front of him was around his age. _Shame really. This guy is way too much of a pussy to be part of a gang. Maybe his dad's in prison. Meth head mom? Who cares? It doesn't matter._

Matt leans back, dodging a stray bullet. He rushes in and grabs the guys arm. Matt raises his fist and his opponent closes his eyes, expecting to meet the same fate as his 'friends'. But after a few moments and a brief period of hyperventilation he opens his eyes and sees Daredevil, still holding on to him but his free hand was now lowered to his side.

Daredevil pulls him in close and the teenager starts breathing heavily. Matt could hear his heart slamming against his chest and he was trembling in his grasp. He opens his mouth to speak and the teenager closes his eyes, expecting the worst.

"Get your life together," Daredevil says, throwing him to the ground. The young man rubs his back and looks at Daredevil, completely baffled by what just happened. "Get. Your life. Together. No one else is gonna do it for you."

Matt walks away from him and he hears the other teenagers footsteps run as far away from him as possible. He stops briefly and listens for Charlie's heartbeat. The young boy was still on top of the building, with his mouth hanging wide open. Matt grapples to his location and rubs his bald head.

"Cool?"

Charlie let out a small whine, which Matt interpreted as a yes. He must have been completely captivated by Matt's performance since he didn't even bother to record the fight.

"Can we beat up more bad guys?" Charlie asks eagerly.

"We are going back to the orphanage. Those nuns will kill me if you miss your curfew."

Matt ties Charlie to his back and makes sure that he was secure. He swings away, regulate his speed so that Charlie would be more comfortable in the air. The last thing he wanted was for them to stop again.

Though they were going much slower than Matt was used which vexed him. He wanted to get out of this suit as soon as possible.

* * *

"Alright. That's the last autograph."

"Aww. Come on."

"You need to go to bed. It's ten o'clock. Let me tuck you in."

Matt puts Charlie to bed and turns off his light. He was about to leap out of his window till he hears Charlie start to speak.

"Yeah?" Matt asks.

"Never mind. It's really silly."

Matt sits next to him on his bed. "No, it's ok. Tell me."

Charlie bites his lip and works up the courage to ask Daredevil his last question. "Can you tell me who you are?"

The question blind sides Matt. "Well… um. That's tricky. If the bad guys ever find out, it might put you and my other friends in danger."

"… But I'd never tell another soul. As long as I lived."

That last line sent a lump in Matt's throat. "I believe you Charlie. It's just… " Matt starts to say. He stands up and turns his back to Charlie. He places his hands on the side of his helmet and removes it from his head and turns around.

"My name's Matt Murdock. I've been blind since I was seven."

"Wait. So you've been doing all this cool stuff and you can't even see? That. Is. Awesome!"

Matt chuckles. "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't do what you want to do. It's your life. You make the choices that matter."

Charlie nods.

"You can't tell anyone about me. Not a word."

Charlie nods again. "It's out secret Matt!" he says, pretending to zip his lips together with his fingers.

"Goodbye Charlie. You're the bravest person I know," Matt says, pulling the boy towards him, hugging him tightly. Matt squints his eyes, trying to block the tears forming in his eyes.

"You're the second bravest person I know," Charlie says cheekily. Matt smiles and puts on his helmet. He tucks him in again and he accidently runs his fingers over the medical chart hanging on Charlie's bed. He couldn't make out most of the words but two popped out.

Brain Tumor.

Charlie had about a month left and Matt had no doubt that he was completely aware of that fact. He waves goodbye and swings outside of the window. He climbs to the top of the neighboring cathedral and perceives the large cross at its top. Matt could still hear the humming of the lights inside and he scales down its walls.

He had one last person to meet.

* * *

Daredevil walks down the aisle towards the statue of Jesus. Matt could still taste the wine and biscuits in the air from morning mass. He stands in front of the statue hanging on the wall and points an accusatory finger at it.

"Why? I thought the whole point of you was that you brought justice to the wicked. Maybe I deserve all the suffering I've had to endure. I've lied. I've spilled innocent blood. I've sinned. But Charlie. He's innocent. He's as innocent as people get and you're letting him die? What for?

"What did he ever do to deserve his fate? Guys like Lex Luthor and Lady Shiva get everything they want and the innocent suffer for no good reason. What's the point of you then? What's the point of praying, believing, sacrificing so much in your name if you do absolutely nothing?" Matt shouts out, aiming his speech towards the figure of Christ.

"Well I'm done."

Matt turns around and hears Father Lantholm standing behind him.

"Matthew," he says kindly.

"Don't. Don't even try to give me the whole 'The Lord works in mysterious ways' speech."

The priest shakes his head, "That phrase is used by delusional fools who can't face the facts. Life isn't fair Matthew. We might think that the good should always prosper and the bad should be reprimanded but that has never been true, even during the time of Christ. He was crucified for defying the Pharisees after all."

Matt lowers his head and Father Lantholm could hear him sniffing. He places a reassuring hand on Matt's shoulder. "You've sacrificed so much to help those less fortunate than you and it has cost you greatly. You've bled in the dirt for the benefit of the innocent and that should be commended. Should you choose to leave that life behind, do so knowing this. There are men, women and children who are alive because of you. They will always be grateful for your efforts and they will live fruitful lives because of your choices."

"What about the ones I couldn't save?" Matt asks.

"They would want you to move on Matthew. To live your life for yourself and no one else."

Father Lantholm takes a stunned Matt into the kitchen and fixes him up a simple dinner. It wasn't anything fancy and Matt remarks that a drunk lemur could probably cook better than Father Lantholm, making the priest laugh. Matt scoffs down his food quickly and changes into his civilian garb.

He puts his uniform into his duffel bag and walks out of the Catherdral. He walks towards the nearest Zeta portal and lets it transport him to his next destination.

* * *

 **Gotham City, Bat cave, 23rd October, 2010:**

It was just past midnight when Matt entered the Bat cave. A high pitched whine enters his ears and he cringes. Bruce used a high pitch frequency to ward off any bats away from the equipment. According to Alfred it saved countless millions on maintenance.

He could hear Bruce typing away at the Bat computer furiously. He must be in the middle of a big case. Without even turning around in his chair Bruce identifies Matt, "Something wrong Matt?"

Matt scratches his hair. He was always a bit uneasy when talking to Bruce and he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to break the news. "Bruce," Matt starts, "I've got something to tell you."

Batman stands up and walks towards Matt. He sees a few small nervous ticks throughout Matt's body and sees him tapping his foot up and down. A clear tell.

"You're quitting," Bruce says in a matter of fact tone.

"Yeah," Matt says quietly. He was not at all surprised Bruce deduced his purpose here so quickly. World's greatest detective and all that.

Batman looks at the duffel bag and asks, "I'm assuming your Daredevil equipment is inside that."

Matt nods.

"Why bring it here?"

"I'd give it back to my armorer but Melvin isn't exactly right in the head. He'd probably cry himself to sleep if I gave back my armor. He'd think it's his fault I'm leaving this all behind."

Bruce crosses his arms, "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm not sure if you know this Bruce but when most people lose people they love they usually mourn. They feel sad, angry, guilt or a billion other things. But do you know what I feel? I feel tired. Tired of all the fighting. Tired of letting everyone I care about down. Tired of seeing the people I love dying. I'm just tired. I can't do this anymore Bruce. I just can't."

Bruce picks up Matt's bag. "What do you want me to do with this?"

"Burn it. Store it. Donate it. Up to you," Matt says, "And Bruce. Thanks."

"What for?" he asks.

Matt smiles, "For not trying to talk me out of it."

Bruce considers that for a moment and nods, "You want to tell Dick?"

"Pretty sure he already knows," Matt says, turning around and gesturing towards a stalagmite.

Dick removes himself from his hiding place and leaps in front of Matt in a hurried but graceful manner. Hefrowns when he lands in front of him, "You're quitting?"

"Yeah."

"If it's because of what happened in that simulation then…"

"You made the right call. I couldn't make the hard choices and it almost cost us. Kaldur's gonna take my place. But you're going to make a better leader than either of us. When you're ready," Matt says smiling. But Dick lowers his head.

He wanted to tell him so much. How much he regrets his choices in that mission. How terrible it made him feel that he would willingly sacrifice his friend's lives for the sake of the mission. How he didn't want to lead ever again.

But he doesn't verbalize any of this. Instead he hugs Matt briefly and runs up the stairs to the mansion.

Bruce reassures Matt that Dick would be fine. Matt hears Alfred try to console his young friend and he puts his hands in his pockets. He walks towards the Zeta platform and hears it powering up.

He feels his particles being transported away and for the first time in a long time Matt felt something he hadn't since he lost his sight. Something he thought that he would never feel again.

He felt free

* * *

 **That's a wrap.**

 **Matt isn't the type of guy who would go to Canary for therapy. But unofficially confessing in church, that's more his style.**

 **I got the idea for Matt to meet Charlie from an old Spider-Man comic. It's short but really hard hitting.**

 **Matt and his faith has always been an important part of his character. He's always questioning things in his life by challenging his faith and I hope I portrayed that properly.**

 **Now for comments that I didn't PM:**

 **TheKike: Can not be. . . Now your mother too, because you like to see poor Matt suffer. . . . Nobody deserves that, what follows is therapy with Canario, Matt has a lot of repressed traumas and I doubt it helps, the team worked, but Matt is only going to get worse, maybe you make him doubt Daredevil.**

 **Me: Nobody deserves it true. But Matt's life has always been filled with trauma and I feel like I need to show that. So yeah. I hope you don't think I'm torturing Matt too much. He does need a break but that won't come for a long time.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Secrets/Misplaced:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, October 31** **st** **2010:**

Matt wakes up with a loud yawn as he throws the covers off of his bed. He leaps out of bed and stretches his arms, making him note the lack of crippling pain in his body. A sensation or lack thereof that he still was not used to.

After going to the bathroom and brushing his teeth he meditates for an hour and then begins his standard workout routine. A few thousand push-ups, a few thousand pull-ups and squats. An equal number of reps with the weights they had at home, a half-hour on the bag, practising his punches, elbows, knees and kicks. Matt felt like treating himself today so he decided to take it easy.

He presses a button on his clock which blurts out the time in a robotic voice. _Only six in the morning. May as well go for a run,_ he thinks.

Matt puts on a black hood and sweatpants and goes down the stairs of his building. Normally his routine would end with him doing some free-running across the rooftops within his block, but he associated the feeling of the wind rushing past his face and the freedom he felt running around the city with his time as Daredevil. He had no interest in tempting himself, even by accident.

He takes a few minutes to stretch, feeling oddly uncomfortable with the ease in which he was moving his body. Normally he would have to adjust his workouts based on how he had gotten injured the past few days. But now he could move however he wanted.

He makes sure that his shoes are properly tied and he starts jogging on the sidewalk. Matt could hear a few people around the block doing the same thing as him with varying difficulty. Some people were wheezing after a few steps, some were finding it tough but they barely worked up a sweat and there was Matt, who was thoroughly bored by the activity.

It would take him running another ten miles for him to start getting tired and Matt couldn't really do anything about that. He thinks about adding some ankle and wrist weights to make jogging a bit more difficult and his attention is diverted to the sound of a window being shattered in the neighbouring street.

Instinctually, Matt stops to listen to the commotion. He could hear a man throwing things around his small, dirty room that reeked of alcohol and old cigarettes. His wife was in the corner, bleeding and cowering in fear as her husband started yelling at her in a drunken stupor. Their children were hiding under their single bed, crying.

Praying.

Matt leans his head against a wall and closes his eyes. _Block it out,_ he thinks. _Block it all out._

But no matter what he did, he couldn't help but listen to all that was happening. He couldn't help but feel sorry for those kids and their mother. And he was more than aware of the anger festering in his body thanks to the man's actions.

Matt turns around and slides down the wall. He covers his ears, hearing the man strike his wife. Matt shakes his head and manages to stand himself up. He runs back home, focusing his hearing on everything else in the environment. He could have stopped that man, easily. But if he started with him, he would never stop. And Matt didn't want to go through all of that pain again.

People have been suffering long before Daredevil. All he managed to do as a hero was put a bandaid on a wound that would never heal.

He rushes back up the stairs to his apartment and into his room. He collapses on his bed and starts to hyperventilate. _You're ok. You're ok. You're ok._

* * *

"Food's good," Britt says, with a mouthful of steak. Lakshmi and Matt witness in disgust as Britt chews his food in the grossest way possible. "What?" he asks.

"Can you at least try and eat with your mouth closed? I can see bits flying out," Lux says, moving her plate towards the edge of her side of the table. Matt does the same, though he pretends to fumble around to search for the plate, he had to keep appearances in a public place after all.

Britt sees this and scoffs, "I still don't get how your powers work."

"I've explained it to you like a billion times already. I'm not doing it again."

"No I mean, how does radioactive gunk give you super hearing?"

Matt shrugs, "I don't know it just did."

Britt leans in closer to Matt, "So what can you hear right now? Give me a taste," he whispers.

"Let's see. I can hear the bones in your ankle shifting, they still haven't healed yet. I can hear a dude shouting at an old man for ramming the back of his car. I can hear the heartbeat of the couple over there behind us. I'm guessing the guy's about to dump her. Oh and I can hear you writing all this down on that dumb notepad of yours," Matt says, snatching it out of Britt's hand.

The two start grabbing each other's arms, fighting over the book and Lux slaps them both on the cheek. "Stop acting like a bunch of first graders."

"He started it," the boys say in unison.

"I don't care I… wait, isn't that a guy from school?" Lux asks, pointing to a skinny teenager in the corner of the café.

Britt spends a few seconds looking at him. "Ben Cho or Chu. Something like that."

"He's drawing on a book as well," Matt says. The other two look and see that Ben's arm was moving back and forth behind his large backpack quickly.

"Poor guy. I hear Donovon beats the crap out of him after school," Lux says sympathetically.

"Donovon's an ass. He stole Matt's stick once and threw in the trash when we were in middle school," Britt spits out.

"Cane. It's called a cane. And speak of the devil," Matt says, tilting his head towards the door as it swings wide open. A tall, bald figure enters the café along with three others. They walk towards Ben and nudge him along outside.

"Since when was Donovon that big?" Britt asks, eyeing the bald on at the centre of the group.

Lux shrugs, "Sarah tells me he's been juicing." She and Britt continue to talk but Matt concentrates on the events occurring in the parking lot. He could hear Ben being thrown around between the four larger teenagers like a ragdoll. They taunted him, throwing a few racial slurs his way, making fun of his Korean heritage.

Matt taps Britt's shoulders and whispers in both his and Lux's ears. The two nod and they walk out of the café and into the parking lot. By the time they reach it, Ben was on the gravel, wheezing, grabbing his stomach.

Britt shouts out, "Hey dumbass. I'm calling the cops."

They turn towards the trio and Donovon steps forward. "Yeah? We could say he attacked us first. All we'd have to do was put a knife in his bag."

"You do realize that we could just tell the cops you did that right?" Matt asks rhetorically.

Lux walks in front of Donovon, staring upwards to make eye contact with the larger teenager.

"Or alternatively we could tell them about the stash of weed you keep in your pocket." Donovon starts to look a little uneasy and Lux gives him a playful smile, "I doubt you'd want that on your record."

"What's going on here?" someone asks the teenagers. They turn around and see a couple of police officers who had just arrived on the scene. Donovon puts his arm around Lux's waist and smiles.

"Just a little misunderstanding between friends officer, isn't that right babe?"

Lux purses her lips, "Yeah. We're just sorting some stuff out," she says with clenched teeth.

Donovon's gang stood Ben up and cleaned him up to try and avoid any suspicion. The officers look at all the teenagers and one of them walks up towards Matt. "You Jack Murdock's boy right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You tell me straight, is anything happening here?"

Matt shakes his head, "Nah. It's all cool officer. Honest."

The two policemen hear a call on their radios and give the kids a warning before walking away. After they were far enough Lux steps on Dononvon's foot hard and elbows him in the gut, making him take his arm off of her.

"Don't touch me like that ever again or you'll lose a hand," she says menacingly. Matt tells Britt to pick up Ben while he pulls Lux away from the other teenagers.

Donovon growls and he and his posse walk the other way. Matt whispers in Lux's ear, "Elektra teach you that?" he asks.

She hums in confirmation. "Though she'd probably threaten to stab them in the balls or something."

Matt laughs, "Warn them? She'd have done it the moment he even got close to her." The two share a small chuckle till Britt snaps them back to the present.

"You alright Ben?" he asks. The smaller boy rubs his arm and pulls his backpack in a bit closer.

"Thanks," he says quietly.

Lux looks at him with kind eyes, "You want us to walk you home?"

He blushes and turns away, "No. I'll manage," Ben says briefly, before running off into the distance.

"You make sure Britt gets to a cab in one piece. I'll shadow Ben," Matt says.

"You sure bud?" Britt asks.

"Yeah, let's be honest, you'll probably screw up your ankle again if you tried to keep up with me," Matt says cheekily.

Britt lightly punches him in the shoulder and Lux walks behind him as he limps forward. Lux smiles and kisses Matt lightly on the cheek.

"We're still meeting up tonight right?" she asks.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Matt responds

Matt cracks his neck and focuses on Ben's footsteps. They were light and small but quite distinct.

He spends an hour or so trailing Ben, who was none the wiser about Matt's presence. Ben turns a corner and Matt hears him being pulled into an alleyway. Matt scales a nearby building and listens from above as Donovon and his goons mercilessly batter Ben into the ground.

"Those nerds aren't here to save you now prick. Now stand up and fight or I'll kick your teeth in," Donovon says, holding Ben's face against the ground, drawing blood. He starts to cry and Donovon applies more pressure on his head, "So you have the balls to talk to my girl but you can't even take a beating like a man?"

His friends watch from the background, laughing as they do. They all heard a loud clang in the background and turn around, seeing one of their friends, lying underneath some garbage cans, with someone in a black hoodie and mask, covering the top half of his face standing over him.

Donovon lets Ben go and makes a few gestures towards his remaining two friends. They both rush Matt who leaps over them and grabs them both and slams their heads together, knocking them both out at once.

He breathes heavily and turns his attention towards Donovon, wondering what he should do about him. In the blink of an eye, Matt seemed to magically appear right in front of the bully and proceed to slam him against the wall, making him cry out.

Matt applies pressure to Donovon's crotch making him squeal in pain like a gut pig. "What's the matter? I thought you could take your beating like a man?" Matt asks with a sinister smile.

"P-please. D-don't kill… Don't kill me," Donovon pleads. The smile fades from Matt's face and he lets him go. Donovon falls to the ground and he grabs his privates, trying to minimize the pain.

"You or you stupid friends ever bully someone again and I'll know. You get me?" Matt asks. Donovon nods frantically and Matt points his finger to the entrance of the alley. Donovon struggled to get up but when he did he ran out of the alley as fast as his shaky legs could take him.

Ben looks at all of this in awe but Matt frowns, climbing the fire escape up to the top of the building without saying a word to Ben. He leaps across a few rooftops and rips the makeshift mask off of his face.

 _What am I doing?_ He thinks to himself. His hands tremble as he brings the mask close to his chin. _Why did I do that? Why did I even bother?_

He feels the familiar sensation of his skin being slightly swollen from striking the first guy and tossing him into the trash cans. As much as he hated to admit it, Matt missed the sensation of an opponent's skull sending reverberations through his fist. He missed the joy he felt making the bad guys feel powerless in his grasp.

Matt slaps himself across the face, _This shit is what got her killed. It's gonna get you killed. Do you think mom wanted that for you? Huh? Do you think Elektra wanted you to die doing this?_ He asks himself. He starts sweating uncontrollably and could feel a griping pain in his chest.

He brings the black cloth to his face and dries his eyes. _Why does helping people hurt so much?_

* * *

"Sorry sir, I have to give everyone the same

portions," Matt says, pouring hot tomato soup into the homeless man's bowl. It was Halloween and the staff at the homeless shelter were all wearing costumes. Most of them were dressed up as members of the Justice League, including Matt himself, who was dressed up in a $10 dollar Batman costume. Which looked as well as you could expect.

With a bored expression, he serves another man his bowl of soup. He notices Lakshmi beside him, doing the same work he did but with a wide, genuine smile across her face. Matt sighs and considers himself for a moment. Why couldn't he be like that? Why was it so hard for him to be happy?

Their shift ends and Matt rushes out the door and Lux follows him. "You know. You're the one who wanted to do this," she says out of breath from her efforts of trying to match Matt's pace.

Matt sits by the shelters steps shrugs, "Did I ever tell you about that kid I saved from the fire that day Amazo attacked?"

Lux sits beside him, "Yeah, why?"

"Take a look in the TV room."

Lux walks towards a window and stands on her tiptoes to peer inside the building. She sees a young boy, with brown hair, fixing a broken television set with a grey-haired man. Lux sees a small burn mark on the boy's arm and asks, "That him?"

"Yeah. Peter. Nice kid, not that popular at school. Spends his time surfing the net for random science stuff I barely understand, helping out his uncle with repairs. His aunt and uncle volunteer here every weekend. I kept tabs on them after.

"Not sure why but after El died I thought if I was here with them, helping the homeless, maybe I could still help people. I thought that it would satisfy me," Matt says, turning his head downwards.

Lux gently puts his hand on his arm, "But?"

"But nothing. This charity stuff doesn't do it for me. But when Ben was being beaten up after you guys left, I thought of Peter. I thought of myself when I lost my sight. I remembered how it was to be beatdown like that and having no one to help you get back up.

"So, without even hesitating I rushed in and saved his ass. I was even smiling when I was beating on Donovon. What kind of a monster enjoys hurting other people? Why did I feel so alive at that moment but feel so empty here?" he asks, rubbing his nose.

"Matt. You've been doing the vigilante thing for over a year. You can't just turn it off like a tap. It'll take time for you to adjust. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself," she says, patting his shoulder.

Matt closes his eyes takes her hand, "Is it weird that I find you being this understanding kinda annoying?"

"Probably a bit, yeah. Wait, aren't you afraid that the kid will recognize you? You told me he saw you without the mask," Lux asks anxiously.

"Nah. The building was on fire, he was scared shitless. I'm sure he barely remembers anything."

Matt stands up, hearing a series of explosions in the background. He tells Lux to go inside and he climbs up a building, removing the cheap cape off his back and using a part of the material to cover the top of his face.

Peter kills a spider on the window he was cleaning and sees someone leaping across the roof of the opposite building. He notices the absence of the red-haired guy from the soup stand and mutters, "Cool."

* * *

Matt reaches the top of a rundown house and observes the scene below. Zatanna and Artemis were standing above what seemed to be a makeshift grave. Matt could hear someone on the inside of the building and could feel a powerful mystical presence near said person.

 _What are those guys up to?_

The man blows up part of the wall with his sword and Matt deduced that his name was Harm, seeing as though that's what he kept calling himself. Matt almost falls off the roof when he feels something rise from the grave. It was cold and almost formless yet paradoxically there was a life-like aura surrounding the thing.

 _Is that a ghost? An actual ghost?_

The ghost reaches into the heart of Harm who was apparently her brother and removes the power of the sword from his body. Artemis effortlessly knocks him out and the ghost disappears.

Matt twists his finger inside his ear and removes a small amount of wax. _Ok, I'm not dreaming then. I should get down there, have them give me a rundown of events before we report this to the League._

He starts to climb down but stops and enters the house before the girls see him. He had to remind himself that this wasn't his life anymore. Artemis and Zatanna took care of this situation themselves. They didn't need him anymore.

Artemis sees something moving on the roof and looks up. Her eyes don't focus on anything and she crosses her arms. She knew he must have been watching them. How could he not? They were in his city after all. She sees someone running on a neighbouring roof and shoots an arrow in that direction which doubled as a grappling hook.

"Hey!" Zatanna shouts out as Artemis launches herself in the air. She lands on the roof top and shouts out Matt's name. She knew he had to still be here since he wouldn't have let her see him if he didn't want to.

"Mind putting that down," Matt asks, stepping out of the shadows. Artemis lowers her bow and looks at Matt with some confusion.

"What are you wearing?" she asks.

Matt realizes that he was still wearing the cheap Batman outfit and he blushes. "Ignore that. You want something?" he asks.

Artemis walks towards Matt, "Guess you're serious about the whole retirement thing then. I mean, why else would you let Zee and me fight that guy by ourselves?" she asks incredulously.

"You had it covered. Was that a ghost back there?"

"Don't change the subject," she snaps.

Matt raises his hands in defeat, "Anything else?" he asks in a neutral tone.

Artemis fidgets with her bow and after a brief moment's hesitation she asks, "What was she like?"

"Who?"

"Elektra. Whoever she was, she's the reason you've decided to quit. Must have been some girl," Artemis says.

Matt rubs his arms, trying to distract himself from the feelings building up inside of him, "Robin should learn to shut up once and a while," he mutters.

"El. She was… she was… " Matt starts but his voice gets caught in his throat and his lips start to tremble. Artemis was taken aback, she had never seen Matt get this emotional before.

"Word of advice. Get out of this life. Quick as you can. Cus, sooner or later you're gonna lose someone you care about and it will break you," Matt says on the verge of breaking down. Artemis blinks and when she opens her eyes Matt was gone.

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 3** **rd** **2010:**

Matt walks down the dimly lit streets of Hell's Kitchen with his head held low and a bundle of cash in his pocket. He touches the small bruise on his cheek and grimaces. He spent the last couple of nights fighting in underground fight clubs, beating the hell out of everyone who entered the cage. He decided to let one of the men hit him just to shake things up but Matt was pretty sure that the guy dislocated his knuckles when he struck Matt in the face.

But, perhaps due to the ease of his victories, every one of those fights felt hollow. A few years ago they might have been decent sparring partners but Matt's gone up against assassins, mobsters, evil androids and superhumans. Random thugs in a cage aren't really worthy opponents for him anymore.

He hears someone trembling in an alley that he was about to walk past. A man, mid-twenties, malnourished and has a knife in his hand. Matt feels a pair of weak, bony hands grab his arms and pulled him into the alley. He hears the knife cut the air around him as the man brandishes it, trying to intimidate Matt.

"I'm guessing you're trying to mug me," Matt says casually. The man stretches his arm, letting the tip of the knife touch Matt's shirt. "You know, you should plant your feet down. Makes it harder to knock you over. Like this," Matt says, twisting the knife out from the man's head and pushing him over using his palm.

The man rubbed his back as he falls over as Matt throws the knife into the garbage without looking. He helps the man up and tries his best not to puke. Matt could smell an entire liquor cabinets worth of booze coming out of this guy's mouth. "You hungry?" Matt asks.

He didn't need to hear an answer, the man's stomach was rumbling like a fighter jet. Matt takes him to an old rib joint a few streets down. He knew the owner and he wouldn't bat an eye at Matt's present company, just as long as he got paid a little bit extra.

Matt takes a sip from a glass as the man wolfs down the meat on his plate. It was almost as if he hadn't had a proper meal in days. After he swallowed his third plate Matt starts to converse with the man who he learned was called Tomek. He was a Polish immigrant who lost his job at the factory he worked at a few months ago. Budget cuts or something, Matt found it hard to decipher some of Tomek's words thanks to his slurred speech and heavy accent.

Apparently, his wife, who came with him from Poland was diagnosed some years ago with cancer and Tomek didn't have the funds to pay her medical bills. He took to booze to alleviate the pain and tried his hand at a few jobs. Cashier, bouncer, salesman but his drinking always ended up getting him fired.

His wife died a couple of weeks ago and he resorted to scaring people into giving him their cash, jewels and whatever they had on them at the moment. He never actually hurt anyone but he still wasn't exactly happy about his current situation.

Matt keeps talking to him till the morning, finding out more about Tomek and his life. He pays the rib shop guy his dues and hires a cab. After about an hour on the road, they reach their destination and he helps Tomek off of the cab.

"Ok Tom. This is a Detox centre. You know what that is?" he asks him, supporting him as they climbed up a flight of stairs.

Tomek shakes his head. "They'll help you with your drinking," Matt says.

"They give me more drinks?" Tomek asks innocently.

Matt chuckles, "Not exactly. They'll help you stop that little habit of yours. They might even be able to help you get a job. You don't have a criminal record so that should help," Matt says.

The two reach the front desk and Matt tells the receptionist about Tomek's current situation – leaving out the attempted mugging – and she buzzes in for someone to help escort Tomek to temporary living quarters. Matt uses his winnings from the past few nights to pay for Tomek's recovery which should last him about a year.

A nurse comes in and offers to help Tomek find his way inside. But before leaving Tomek turns towards Matt, "Why you help me?" he asks, his voice small and somewhat self-loathing.

Matt patted him on the shoulder, "It's the right thing to do," he says with a small smile. Tomek's eyes turn red and he wraps his arms around Matt in a powerful hug. He cries into his shoulder and whispers in his ear, "I never forget this Matthew. I never forget." Matt returns the hug and wipes the tears forming in his eyes.

"Go on," he says. The nurse walks past Matt as she helps goes to talk to Tomek. Matt pauses when did. She smelled of orchids. The same perfume that Elektra liked to wear. Matt bids Tomek goodbye and briskly walks out of the building.

He leans against a lamppost and rests his head against it. Why wouldn't God let him forget her?

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 5** **th** **2010:**

Matt taps his cane on the sidewalk, wading through the crowds, pushing past people and apologizing whenever he bumped into them. He was not going to be late for school again. If he had to hear principle Cardiff lecture him about the sanctity of education he was going to throw her off of a building.

He brushes past and elderly gentleman and as Matt was about to apologize he felt something shift in the air. Matt rubs his head but when the cobwebs clear, he notices that the man had disappeared. Upon further inspection, he realizes that almost all the people on the street had disappeared. Matt hears something coming behind him at speed and he leaps to the side, narrowly dodging a car which crashes a wall. Matt rushes towards the car and sees that it was empty, save for a young child, strapped in a child seat.

Matt opens the door and pulled the girl out. He carries her with one arm and could hear cars all around the city crashing. The only heartbeats he could hear were ones that belonged to children and teenagers. It was as if every adult had just disappeared. Matt and some of the older kids start rounding up the younger ones and start walking towards Times Square. It was close enough to Hell's Kitchen that everyone could walk there and it was a large, open area that was very recognizable and well known.

Matt asks Lux to send a mass text to everyone with a cell phone to reach Times Square, at least the ones who were in Hell's Kitchen. Luckily for him, most of the older kids were being somewhat responsible and were actually contributing to the effort. Finding food, entertaining the kids etc. Matt decided to run around the city, trying to find anyone else who was stuck or lost.

He does this for a few hours, escorting a few dozen kids to the impromptu shelter that they made of the Square. Matt was now perched on top of a building, scanning the area for anyone else. He picks up the scent of gunpowder and he hears a gunshot fill the air. Matt rushes towards that direction and hears a pair of familiar heartbeats in the distance.

 _Donovon and Ben? Is he seriously trying to shoot the poor guy?_ Matt thinks to himself in disbelief. He runs under a clothesline and pulls a scarf off of it. He ties it over his face and increases his pace. He leaps across a few rooftops and within moments was atop a building that had a birdseye view of the two teenagers.

Though that was irrelevant to Matt and he focused in on the scene. He could hear Donovon's and Ben's heart beats but something felt off to Matt. He could hear someone gripping on to the gun but it was not Donovon. It was Ben and Matt could tell that a bullet only scraped Donovon's shoulder but he was bleeding and begging for his life.

Matt instinctively reaches to his side to remove his Billy clubs but feels nothing but empty pockets. He snarls and leaps down to where the other teenagers where. "Stop," Matt yells out, making Ben aim the gun in his direction. Ben yelps in fear and fires in Matt's direction, who ducks and dives out of the way of the bullets. Luckily for Matt, Ben was a terrible shot.

"Get out of here. Now!" Matt tells Donovon who runs out of the alley like a stabbed rat. Ben raises his arm and aims his weapon at Donovon but Matt rushes in and twists Ben's wrist, disarming him. Matt pushes Ben against a wall and presses against his arm hard.

Ben squirmed in Matt's grasp but he was struggling against someone who could go toe to toe with beings that could lift cars. So after a few moments, Ben stopped and Matt asks him a simple question.

"Why?"

Ben shakes his head. "He was an evil piece of shit. He beat me up for months and no one cared. He called me names, made fun of my family. I had to get back at him. I had to make things right."

"Make things right? If you wanted to do that you would have talked to the cops or a counsellor. Instead, when we're in an apocalyptic scenario you choose to pick up a gun and shoot a guy instead of helping out.

"What if you did it? What if you killed him? Would the world be a better place? No. You would have ruined the lives of that guy's family. You would have gone to prison and your mom would have to live the rest of her life knowing her son was a murderer. When the adults come back I'm telling the cops what you tried to do," Matt says.

Ben starts tearing up but Matt ignored him. He rips off a few clothes hangers and ties Ben's hands together.

He takes him to the Square and asks a few of the bigger teens to watch over him, briefly debriefing them on what he tried to do. "Make sure he stays tied up. When the adults are back he's gonna be taken to the cops."

The teenagers were a bit taken puzzled by Matt's appearance and mask but they nodded. They vaguely recognized the voice and Donovon vouched for the masked figure so they agreed to guard Ben.

"Thanks for saving me," Donovon says. Matt scowls at him underneath his mask-making Donovon double backs and walks away. Matt finds someone with first aid experience to help patch Donovon up. He may not have liked the guy but he still needed medical attention.

Matt heard something being played on everyone's phones. A message from the Team, telling everyone to stay calm and help out the younger kids.

 _Better late than never I guess_ , Matt thinks to himself.

He pulls out his phone and dials Dick on speed dial. Matt waits a few agonising seconds till his call was answered. "Hello. Dick?"

"Hey. What's up?"

"Saw the vid you sent out. You need any help?"

There was a pregnant pause before Dick answered. "It's alright. Just keep the peace in New York. I… How did this kid get here? Matt, I'll get back to you."

Dick cut the call and Matt put his phone away. The Team seemed to have things under control. Besides, he had his city to worry about. If Dick wanted his help, he would have asked.

He walks towards a group of teenagers who were roughing someone up and Matt breaks up the fight. He helps the guy up and quiets everyone down.

 _Yep. Definitely needed here._

* * *

Matt sits on his rooftop, hearing the joyful sound of families being reunited after the adults magically appeared again. He takes a swig of his apple juice and plays a song from a playlist on his phone. Ben was handed off to the cops and Matt made sure he made got there safe. He hears something come towards him and then takes another bottle and throws it to his side and hears a hand catch it in mid-air.

"This apple juice? I figured you were more of an orange guy. Is that Elton John?" Dick asks, pointing to Matt's phone. His clothes were loose-fitting and Matt could hear his skin breathe indicating that Dick was wearing casual clothing.

Matt smiles, "Yeah, Elektra and I used to argue about music and his songs were the only ones we mutually enjoyed." Dick sits next to him and takes a sip of the juice Matt gave him. "We were alone at her place and we blasted Elton John the entire night while we messed around and wrecked the place. That was a fun night, though her parents didn't take too kindly to us breaking the chandelier."

"How did you break a chandelier?" Dick asks.

"Trust me. You don't wanna know. We did some really stupid things together."

"Yeah, like fighting a vampire."

Matt nudges Dick in the shoulder, "You and Bruce were there to _boy wonder_. Plus Bruce was the one who went full Van Helsing and sprayed us all with garlic. Remember how she decapitated that thing?"

"That was pretty cool. It was one clean slice, pretty sure I couldn't pull that off," Dick says.

Matt sighs and purses his lips together. He crosses his arms and pulls them close to his body. "I miss her," he says softly. Dick places his hand on Matt's shoulder, in an attempt to comfort his friend.

"How'd the mission go?" Matt asks, diverting the topic.

Dick clicks his tongue, seeing that Matt wanted a change of conversation. "Well, It's a long story." He fills Matt in on the events of that evening. How Zatanna located where the spell that split the adults and kids in separate worlds. How Captain Marvel was apparently a ten-year-old kid - which Matt didn't find surprising since the Captain lacked the testosterone appropriate for an adult his size. But what shocked Matt the most was the fact that Zatara chose to be the permanent host of Nabu after Zatanna wore the Helmet of Fate.

"Jesus. How's she doing?" Matt asks.

"Well enough, considering her dad's slave to a magic helmet."

"At least her dad's alive," Matt says. Trying to find a bright side to this scenario.

Dick shakes his head, "Yeah. But she'll never see him again. That's way worse. Knowing that your dad was alive but you could never talk to him."

"Wait!" Matt says out loud. He stands up and points towards Dick, "Maybe she can." Matt leaps off the building and climbs down towards his window. He starts rummaging through a few old books he had and Dick quickly catches up with him.

"What're you looking for?" Dick asks.

Matt grins with satisfaction and pulls out a dusty, grey file. He slams it on a table, forming a small dust cloud as he does, which makes Dick cough. Matt runs his fingers along the text of the old documents and Dick sees old black and white images of Doctor Fate and his previous long-term host, Kent Nelson.

"Here," Matt says, pointing to a specific paragraph. Robin scans through the words and his eyes widen when he finishes reading the text.

"Woah. Think Fate will go for it?" Dick asks.

"He did before. We just have to hope that Kent didn't annoy Nabu too much."

* * *

 **Metropolis, November 5** **th** **2010:**

Matt, Zatanna and Robin stand underneath a large tree that was in the middle of a remote park near Metropolis. Matt was wearing his black gear and had his swords tied to his back while Dick was in full costume, uneasily fiddling with something in his right hand. Zatanna was standing between them uncomfortably.

"Why did you bring those?" she asks Matt.

"For defence? You know, if things get tasty."

"Right, cus an all-powerful Lord of Order that spends his weekends fighting of things that live in other dimensions is gonna shake in his boots at the sight of a blind kid with an enchanted Japanese sword," she says sarcastically, placing her hand on her hips.

Matt shrugs, "Well, it's a better weapon then that rock Robin has," he says.

"It's a native American talisman Batman found. It's meant to nullify magic. I think," Robin says.

Zatanna asks Robin if she could take a look at his talisman. She eyes it for a few moments and slaps her forehead. "This is used to repel fairies," she says, tossing it back to Robin.

"But… I thought… Well, that made me feel super whelmed," he says.

"Guys focus. He could be here any moment," Matt says, grabbing their attention.

"Matthew Michael Murdock. State your attention lest you incur the wrath of Fate," a multitude of voices says behind the teenagers.

The three jump out of their skins and turn around. Matt was shocked beyond words, he wasn't used to being crept up on like that. He slowly walks towards Fate. "Um… Hey Doc. I've come to… Bargain?" he says meekly.

Robin holds onto his useless talisman tight and Zatanna stares at Doctor Fate with a remorseful glare. Even though it's been only a few hours she found it nearly impossible to believe that the golden figure in front of her was the same person as her kind-hearted father.

"You should be grateful for me granting you children this meeting. The Lord of Order has pressing matters to attend to," Fate says. Matt takes a deep breath and asks Dick for the files.

"When Kent Nelson was your host, you let him take off the helmet for an hour each year on a specific day. I humbly request that you grant Zatara the same privilege. It's only right that he has that time to see his daughter," Matt says, offering Fate the old files he and Robin went through.

Fate looks down upon Matt for a few moments and then looks at Zatanna. "Nelson was only granted that opportunity after years of service under Fate. Why should I give Zatara the same right when he has yet to prove his loyalty?"

"Please Nabu. My dad is all I've got left. It's only an hour. My dad will honour your agreement. You're bonded with him right now, you know he never goes back on his word," Zatanna says, pleading on her knees in front of Fate.

"Very well. You may have your allotted time with your father on this day next year," Fate says. He turns around and without saying another word, he summons a portal and teleports away. Zatanna reaches out, trying to touch Fate but he disappeared before she could.

She cups her hands and covers her face and tears start streaming down her cheeks. Robin goes in to comfort her and Matt walks next to them. "Rob, get her to the Cave."

Robin helps Zatanna gets up and walks her towards the nearest Zeta tube. "I didn't even get to say goodbye," she says quietly.

"I know. I'm sorry," Robin says.

Matt hears the two walk away and he leans against the tree. The shape of Fates portal was similar to that of a cross and Matt lets out a cynical laugh. "Guess you're not satisfied screwing with my life," Matt says, craning his neck upwards. "Does anything we do even matter? Or are we just ants in a jar to you?" he asks out loud.

He hears no reply and follows after Zatanna and Dick. God will give him no answers. He never did.

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, October 31** **st** **2010:**

Matt sits in his grimy tub, sharpening his swords. He forgot to give them back to Robin after their conversation with Faith. He heard the sound of his whetstone washing out the surface particles in the edge of the blade, sharpening it.

The rhythm of running the stone across the blade was almost hypnotic to Matt. He always liked maintaining his weapons. It made him feel more ready and prepared.

Matt stops running the stone across the blade and closes his eyes. _Preparing? For what? You wanted to retire. To hang up the suit but you've been pretty active for a retiree._ Matt sheaths his swords and wraps them up in a waterproof cover. He places it under his bed and jumps onto his mattress.

 _You're either in the hero business or you're not. There's no middle ground._ He thinks to himself. Matt reaches under his bed and feels around for something. He grabs on to a piece of smooth fabric and pulls it out from under his bed.

Matt pulls the scarf in close and takes in its scent. He and Mark bought it for their mother on the last Christmas they spent together _. What would you tell me to do mom? You were always good at this existential crisis stuff._

 _Dad wanted me to focus on school. Go to college, become a lawyer. You just wanted me to do what made me happy. Elektra would just tell me to do what I thought was right._

 _But what do I want to do? What the hell is the right thing anymore? What the hell am I?_ He thinks. He still craved violence. He still ran to help people in need even when his mind tells him that it's not his place to do so.

Matt closes his eyes and buries his face in the scarf. He didn't remember what his mother looked like but he could remember the little things. Scents, mannerisms, her terrible cooking.

A small chuckle leaves Matt's mouth as he drifts off to sleep, remembering the little details about the people he's lost. The taste of his father's shaving cream, the musk of Elektra's orchid flavoured perfume.

He didn't have them in his life anymore and they couldn't give him advice or tell him what to do. But they still lived through him. Maybe that had to be enough. Even if it doesn't feel that way.

* * *

 **Well, that was weird to write. I wrote this a week ago and after editing it I was wondering why I made Matt go through so much stuff.**

 **But if I'm honest he needed to take time to come to terms with the deaths of his loved ones. He needed to realise that being Daredevil was always gonna be a part of him. The urge to fight and run out to help people is ingrained in his body.**

 **Quitting is not easy. I felt like I needed to summarize two episodes since Matt honestly won't have any business in a decent number of the later episodes. Though he'll still meet the Team on occasion.**

 **The next chapter is a bit more light-hearted than the past few ones. Even I have my limits on how much I can torture this poor guy.**

 **Onto the comments:**

 **TheKike:**

 **That was good, seeing Matt saying goodbye to being Daredevil and it is true what he said of being tired of fights after fights without any sense and only so that, to see his loved ones die, 'I hope that in the next chapter the team will go to try to change Matt's mind, this episode reminded me of the Spider man 2 movie where Peter Parker lost his powers and renounced being a hero but over time he remembered why he did that because "Great power carries great responsibility "I wait for the next cap**

 **That Matt does not leave behind his faith, I am a Catholic and I would never lose my faith in Christ.**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for the comment dude. And Matt's faith has always been shaky. It's not that he doesn't believe in God but he thinks that God has abandoned him. That view will change but it won't be a primary focus of the story.**

 **It's obvious Matt's gonna come back in some capacity but the Team won't have a direct influence on that. But it is coming. But it will take a while and will be totally worth it.**

 **Alright. I'm slightly sick so I must go to bed. See ya all later.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Coldhearted** :

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 10th 2010:  
**

"Two minutes and he's out," Matt says, shouting into Britt's ear in order to drown out the hundreds of people in the audience.

Britt shakes his head and disagrees, "Nah, I say your brother takes him in the next round."

"Twenty bucks?" Matt asks.

Britt shakes his hand, "You're on." The bell rings and the fourth round starts. Mark throws a few jabs at his opponent who weaves side to side to avoid his punches. Mark moves to the side and throws a one-two combo at his opponent who dodges with the same weaving motion.

Mark raises his hands, blocking a few punches. He wraps his arms around his opponent's torso, getting him into a clinch. Mark pushes him onto the ropes and shoots out two punches and his opponent dodges the same way as before, weaving his head to avoid the attacks but Mark pauses mid-way through the combination and launches an uppercut that completely eviscerates his chin.

The second fighter feels his eyes roll back into the base of his skull and he falls to the floor. Mark walks to his corner and watches as his opponent flops on the floor like a fish on land. The referee starts the count and the crowd starts yelling out. Matt was cheering Mark on and Britt was shouting at his opponent, "Get up you bastard I have money riding on you!"

The referee waves his hands in the air after he counts to ten, ending the fight just under two minutes in the fourth round. The people from the fighters' corners rush into the ring and Marks people lift him up in the air like it was the end of a Rocky movie. Matt opens up the palm of his hand and Britt scoffs and slaps a wad of bills in his hand.

Matt cackles with satisfaction and makes his way towards the ring, pushing through people in the crowds, past reporters and random people he couldn't identify. He held his cane in his hand and raises it up to get Mark's attention. Matt realises that he was making out with Claire and rolls his eyes, electing to reside behind the ring till the crowd disappeared.

Over half an hour passes by and he makes idle chit chat with Britt and Ted Grant but the old trainer seemed more interested in watching Mark's fight footage than talking to a couple of teenagers. Something Matt completely understood considering the route of their current conversation.

"You did not sleep with Lily Donahue. Why would a senior even want to sleep with you?"

Britt wraps his arm around Matt's shoulder, "It's a grand tale. One that I might even share with you when you are ready to absorb my teachings," Britt says facetiously, stroking his non-existent beard.

"I can't tell who's worst. You or Wally," Matt mutters to himself.

"Guessing that's one of your super friends. Isn't he the one who has their birthday tomorrow?"

Matt's face turns pale. "Ah shit, I forgot. What're the chances that a stores open today?"

"At this time? Pretty much zero. Can't you just buy something tomorrow?"

"We have school tomorrow Britt," Matt reminds his friend.

"You could just give him some cash."

Matt shrugs his shoulders, "Not everyone's as rich as you dude. Plus that's so impersonal."

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 11th 2010:  
**

"So what did you get him?" Matt asks over the phone.

"Cash. You?" Robin asks.

Matt pulls his hood up and puts his free hand in his pocket. "I got him an old book that's basically an encyclopedia on supernatural creatures. It's like one of a handful that's been translated to english."

"How'd you get a hold of that?" Robin asks. Matt pauses and Robin responds, "You had it laying around the house didn't you?"

"Yeah, it's pretty boring anyway. Don't tell Wally," Matt says sheepishly. He holds his backpack tight and winces as a gust of wind bombards his face with snow. Each flake felt like a thousand small knives cutting his skin but he powers through the pain. He wasn't going to let freaky weather stop him from seeing his friends.

Matt reaches the Zeta tubes and they recognise him, generating a portal for him to travel through.

* * *

 **Mount Justice, November 11th 2010:  
**

Matt's legs wobble as the Zeta portals close down. He forgot how much he hated using those things. He rubs his chest and tries to quell his feeling of nausea but he straightens up, hearing someone come flying towards him.

"Matt!" M'gann cries out, grabbing Matt in a hug, almost knocking him to the floor. Matt laughs and returns the gesture.

"Good to hear your voice again M'gann," he tells her with a smile. "You making a sponge cake in there?" he asks tilting his head towards the kitchen.

"Hey, Chef Murdock. Long time no see," Robin says sarcastically, waving at Matt. The two boys share a fist bump and M'gann hovers back towards the kitchen telling Matt to make himself feel at home.

Matt took in the ambience of the Cave. He could hear Sphere beeping in the corner; tiny, nearly invisible hairs tickled his body, no doubt belonging to Wolf. Also, a strong heartbeat was walking towards him at a speedy pace.

"Ow," Matt cries out as Artemis punches him in the shoulder. "You know, I let you do that," he says, rubbing his sore arm.

Artemis smirks, "Yeah right. Guys, you might want to carry him to the couch. I think he's gained a few pounds since retiring." Matt playfully sticks his tongue out at her and she pretends to walk with the cane with the posture of a hunched back old man.

Connor and Kaldur walk next to Matt. "She's annoyed that she didn't get the chance to beat you in a sparring match. Wally's been getting his ass kicked during training. Pretty sure she's venting her frustrations out on him," Connor says.

Matt nods at him and Wolf slowly comes towards Matt, sniffing his feet out of curiosity. After a few sniffs, he stands on his hind legs and licks Matt's face, leaving a trail of saliva across his cheek. "Looks like he missed you more than I did," Connor says lightheartedly, petting Wolf behind the ears.

"I apologize for our informal welcome but we have been busy preparing for Wally's party," Kaldur says with a small bow. Matt taps him in the arm and laughs.

"It's alright dude. I'm just glad to be back," Matt says. It was almost comforting coming back to the Cave. It was like jumping back in a time machine to a time when things were a lot more simple and less tragic. The jovial atmosphere, the banter, Matt was surprised by how much he missed all of it.

Connor looks at Matt, "So when you say you're back..."

"You heard Artemis. I'm retired. I'm here for the party, that's it," Matt says quickly. The last thing he wanted was to give anyone false hope. Connor shrugs and walks into the lounge.

"Guess people are still sour about me quitting," Matt tells Kaldur.

"It has been… challenging. You have been our leader since the inception of this Team and you left almost immediately after that simulation," Kaldur says. Matt could detect a hint of resentment in his voice. "When Batman gave us the news, we were devastated. We weren't given specifics at the time but Robin pieced it together. Do not misunderstand, we all completely understood your reasons for wanting to leave. But after all that we had been through together, it would have been nice to hear from you directly. Even a call would have sufficed."

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't even think about how you guys would have felt. The past few weeks were hard and I'm still sorting stuff out. I just wanted to distance myself from any hero stuff. But I should have contacted you guys. You're my friends and I didn't mean for you all to worry," Matt says lowering his head in shame.

Kaldur smiles, "There is nothing to forgive. The others will come to terms with it eventually. Just give them time."

"You are way more patient than I am. We should have made you leader from the start," Matt says with a chuckle.

"It is not a burden I carry lightly. But thank you for your kindness," Kaldur says. The two hear a sonic boom in the distance and a gust of wind rushes past them.

"It is so cold out there," the Flash says, rubbing his arms at superspeed. "Oh hey Daredevil, what's up?"

Matt stands there awkwardly, "Um… good? I think. Where's Wally?"

The Flash shakes his head, "He's running a few errands, he'll be here in a flash. Now where's the kitchen, I'm famished." Before Kaldur or Matt could reply Flash zooms off and runs across the entire Cave before finally spotting the kitchen.

"Two-speed puns in one sentence. That's corny, even for him," Zatarra says, pushes her hair out of her face, which was dishevelled by the rush of wind caused by Flash's running. "Hey, Dare-um Matt?" she says with hesitation.

 _Someone must have told her my name. Well, that's one awkward conversation avoided_ , Matt thinks. "How you holding up?" he asks her.

"Pretty good considering. I mean, this place is like a maze," Zatanna says, looking around, avoiding eye contact with Matt.

 _She clearly doesn't want to talk about her old man. Come on, change the topic. This is awkward enough as it is,_ Matt thinks. "So… Do you and Miss M need any help in the kitchen?" Matt asks after a few seconds.

"Didn't think you could cook. With you being the devil and all," Zatanna says, raising a brow.

Matt waves her off, "I'm just gonna sort the table out. Last time I tried to cook, I nearly blew up my apartment. And before you ask, it wasn't some weird alien egg or a grenade. There was just too much gas."

"I didn't say anything," Zatanna says with a knowing smile as the two walk into the kitchen. They help M'gann sort out all the food. They divided the meals into two categories; Speedsters and everyone else. The Speedster pile could probably have fed a small village for a week but Matt has witnessed the horror of Wally eating a few dozen meals in one sitting. He still has nightmares about the squid-like squishing noise he makes when he chews at superspeed.

Zatanna and M'gann used their powers to move the food around and make any final touches to the dishes and Matt moves on to help the others with sorting out the decorations. Since he had no understanding of what looked aesthetically pleasing he relied on everyone else to guide him on what to do.

He was happy Wally wasn't here yet because Matt was sure that he would have made him do something stupid like put balloons on the Bioship or something around those lines. After the decorations were put up Matt spends a considerable amount of time explaining to the two aliens of the group why humans celebrated birthdays.

After over ten minutes of explaining why a party needed to be a surprise even though the person that they hosted the party for usually knew if they were getting a party Matt simply says, "It's just an excuse for people to have fun and stuff themselves like a Thanksgiving turkey. Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna stop Robin from eating the cake. Again." He walks away in a huff towards the table pulling Dick away from the food.

The Zeta tubes activate and Matt hears Wally walk out of them. The computer announces that the portals were shutting down due to extreme atmospheric disturbances. Flash turns off the lights and Wally struts in like someone who's won the lottery.

When Wally enters the room, Matt turns on the lights and everyone yells out, "Surprise!"

"Whaaat? Aww, you guys shouldn't have," Wally says with mock surprise.

Robin crosses his arms, "Right. Not like we've been hinting for days or anything," he says jovially.

After exchanging presents - which ended with Matt and Wally debating about the existence of vampires - Wally sat down wearing a birthday hat in front of the caloric carnage that was his birthday meal. M'gann bows down to talk to Wally. "We made two birthday cakes."

"Great," Wally says. "What are you guys eating?"

M'gann laughs. "We'll share the cup cake," she says, pointing to it. "Make a wish."

Wally looks at M'gann with lustful eyes. "I already have." He takes in a deep breath and blows out his candies.

Everyone cheers and claps, except for Connor and Red Tornado. Matt hears his stomach growling and rubs his tummy. He could taste every layer of Wally's cake as M'gann started to cut a piece for Wally.

"You know. If I tell you my wish it won't happen. But if you guess… " Wally tells the Martian suggestively. M'gann hands Wally a plate of cake and Wally laughs, telling her to guess again.

Artemis looks at this and walks away with an irritated look on her face. Matt understood her frustrations, Wally's constant flirting was always a bit grating. He had no idea how M'gann dealt with it.

M'gann bends down and lightly kisses Wally in the forehead, wishing him a happy birthday, making the Speedster blush. Artemis' expression lightened after seeing that. Wally would be too flustered to speak for the next few minutes.

Robin and Zatanna get to talking and Matt walks up to Artemis. "How's he not figured out that she's dating Connor?" Matt asks, referring to M'gann.

Artemis shakes her head and asks, "You think we should tell him?" Though from the tone of her voice Matt knew that she had made her mind up anyways.

"He's all yours," Matt says, gesturing to Wally who was gulping down entire slices of cake as easily as a normal person would do a grain of rice. With a smug look, Artemis walks behind Wally and whispers into his ear.

Matt alerts everyone else in the Team via the psychic link and they all turn towards Wally to see his reaction. Wally's face goes through a myriad of emotions. First dismissal. Then disbelief and then comical devastation after he sees Connor and M'gann holding hands.

The speakers in the cave activate and Batman orders the Team to suit up in their polar stealth suits. They would be briefed on five minutes.

Matt sits down on the couch as everyone else begrudgingly went to the changing rooms. "I'll just sit here. Doing nothing. Nothing at all," he mumbles.

He stays sat on the couch while the Team was briefed by Batman over a holographic image of him in the Bat-plane. He heard something about the League and Team working together to destroy some floating ice fortresses that were causing blizzards all around North America. The idea of working with the League excited everyone but Matt had worked with most of them during the Amazo attack. He knew he wasn't missing out on much. Yet there was a part of him that yearned to fight alongside his friends again.

Wally was told to stay out of this since he had to deliver a heart to a young girl in desperate need of a transplant in Seattle. Wally disabled his stealth mode and gave out a disappointed sigh.

"Before I forget, Superboy, drop Daredevil off in New York before heading towards ice fortress two. Batman out."

Matt runs into the hanger with his mouth wide open. "How did he know I was here?"

Robin gives him a tired look. "He's Batman."

"I swear to God that's gonna become a meme one day. Hey, Wally cheer up. You'll get to work with the big guns again," Matt says trying to cheer his friend up. He wraps his mom's scarf around his neck and jumps into the Super cycle with Connor and Wolf.

"Since when could Sphere turn into a flying bike?" Matt asks.

"Ever since I met these weird alien guys from New Genesis," Connor replies. Wolf simply nods in acknowledgment.

Matt rubs his chest as they start flying in the air. He had more questions but he was more worried about regulating his body temperature than making small talk about an alien bike.

Connor looks at Matt and was bemused to see him completely cover his head with his scarf. He looked like some sort of black mummy cosplayer with no budget. "What's with the new get up?" Connor asks, enjoying the feeling of snow melting in his mouth as he spoke.

"The snowflakes feel like a million super small needles stabbing my skin and the high speeds aren't helping. We're not all invulnerable you know," Matt replies with a muffled voice. Wolf sniffs Matt's scarf and Matt lightly strokes the canines back. Feeling his warmth he nuzzled closer to Wolf. His fur was itchy but better that than your fingers going numb.

The Super Cycle starts to beep and Connor takes a moment to try and decipher what it was saying. "Sphere says we're near Manhattan. That close enough for you?" Connor asks.

"Yeah. Just drop me off on that rooftop, I'll parkour the rest of the way."

Connor obliges and sets the Super cycle down to where Matt was pointing. Matt gets off and waves at Connor and Wolf as they fly away towards their destination. After the cycle leaves Matt scales down the building slowly, making sure every grip and foothold was secure before making another move. He didn't want to slip and fall of the building.

The last time he felt a gust of wind this cold and powerful was in Antarctica. There were days were the liquid in his nose would freeze solid and every breath felt like inhaling in small pebbles. That part of his training was hell but he was glad he went through it. Navigating the streets of New York in a blizzard, while challenging was nothing compared to climbing mounds of snow barefoot in the coldest part of the world while being chased by polar bears.

Matt focuses on his breathing to regulate his temperature and make his body warm. It took him a while to get the correct rhythm but he eventually remembered how to do it. This series of techniques kept him alive in Antartica. But the cold wasn't what was making Matt's journey so difficult. He didn't recognise any of the streets or buildings in the city.

Matt turns his head over to listen in on a conversation that was taking place in a house nearby. It was an old couple, complaining about the weather and their faulty radiator. But the way they said the _word faulty_ rubbed Matt the wrong way. He listened in on some more people, a few children. Their accent sounded strange to him but familiar. Matt rattled his head to try and place the accent and then he realised where he was.

"You dropped me in New Jersey you asshole!" Matt shouts out beneath his scarf. His rage was directed at Connor but he doubted the Kryptonian could hear him in this blizzard. "Near Manhattan my ass. I'm almost eighty miles away. And it had to be Jersey. I'd rather be in the South pole again," Matt shouts out.

He huffs through the snow with great anger and makes his way north east, which is where New York should be. "No cabs. No planes. No trains. No Zeta. Walking in the snow like an escimo. Come to Wally's party Dick says. 'It'll be fun.' Well yeah, I'm having so much fun. Stuck in a backwater city in the middle of a blizzard. Real fun Dick," he whines vindictively. He steps into a large pile of snow and trips over, landing face first. Matt frantically pushes the snow away and gets up. His scarf was hanging off of his ears and his face was as pink as a pig.

Matt wipes the snow off of his face and calms himself down. "Then again. Jersey isn't that bad. Place has real good food. Blueberries, corn, probably something else. Pretty sure Bruce Willis was born here. Or was that Jersey City? Wait Jersey's the state right? Now I'm talking to myself. And my spits freezing up," Matt rambles. He stops in his tracks hearing something shift in the snow behind him. He turns around and tries to make out what made the noise but the howling winds made it nearly impossible to concentrate.

Matt's face scrunches up as he hears a mechanical whir and cold, straining metal that was janking along the road. "You're kidding?" Matt asks out loud. He moves to the side of the road as large stilt like legs walk past him on the road. "Why is that idiot in Jersey?" Matt says, tying the scarf over the top half of his face. Matt rubs the lower half of his face and repeatedly slaps his cheeks, numbing the pain he felt from the snow stabbing his face.

He quickly scales over to the top of the building and listens for Stilt-Man's legs. Which wasn't too difficult since he was walking incredibly slowly since the hydraulic fluid in his suit was freezing up in some parts. Matt paces his way on a roof next to Stilt-Man, who was holding a bag filled with what Matt assumed was cash.

Matt removed a small lead pipe from the edge of the roof and threw it at Stilt-Man's head. The pipe ricocheted off his helmet and back into Matt's hand. Stilt-Man slowly turns around and Matt winced as he heard the villains armour creak and moan from the strain of performing such a simple action.

Stilt-Man raised his arm and extended it in Matt's direction but Matt casually walked back a few steps and the attacked missed directly. Stilt-Man tried to pull his arm back but the extension wouldn't come back. Matt walks across the extended arm with his hands behind his back, grasping the lead pipe.

When Matt reaches the suits chassis he taps the pipe around trying to find a weakness. He hears a hollow sound from one panel and drives the pipe into it, sending sparks out from the armor. Stilt-Man drops his bag of cash and uses his now free hand to press a few buttons and his leg extensions start to slowly go back to normal size.

Matt, confident that he took out the main powersource of the suit dragged Stilt-Man to what smelled like a department store. "Not sure I like the new look Daredevil," the villain says with a shivering jaw as Matt pushes him towards the store. Matt doesn't respond. He was in no mood to make small talk with anyone.

He hears four heartbeats in the store and when he pushes some snow away to make room for the two of them to enter the store the four heart rates spike up. Startled by the amount of noise Stilt-Man's heavy armor made.

Matt analyses the sources of the heartbeats. A young boy, around eleven or twelve years old, a man in his late thirties and a pregnant woman. All three were wearing heavy clothing to protect them from the cold. Matt notes how warm the air felt and heard an electrical current flowing through a few warm, metal coils.

A heater.

The three people look at the odd pair and were not sure what to make of them. Matt blew some air out and a small white mist formed. Matt notices that the man was becoming defensive and that meant he needed to defuse the situation. "Don't be alarmed. I'm Daredevil. I'm a superhero from New York and I've apprehended this villain who was hiding around in your city. He was in the process of stealing something when I took him down and all I want to do is lay low in your shop while the storm blows over."

The three who were standing started to look at each other and murmurs start to flow between them. The youngest one looks at Matt and asks, "Where's the stuff he stole?"

Matt stammers, "It's um… out there."

They look out the window and see a small brown blob being slowly buried under snow. The pregnant woman raises her hand like a school student. "I thought Daredevil looked like, you know, the Devil. Not a man in a hoodie and scarf."

"Been getting that a lot lately," Matt says. Stilt-Man gives Matt a look that basically said _I told you so_ promoting Matt to add just a little bit of extra pressure on his arms.

"We can't let you two freeze out there. Come on in but no funny business you hear?" The man says. Matt assumed that he was the owner of the store and judging by his body language he was the patriarch of this small family. Matt hears the fourth heartbeat from the woman's belly.

The others ask Matt a bunch of questions. Most of them revolved around his costume and Stilt-Man - who never responded to any of the questions thrown at him since Matt was always inches away from him. Everyone in the shop eventually formed a circle and used a few portable heaters to warm them up. One of the perks of waiting out a storm in a department store.

They made their introductions. The young boy was called Kevin. His dad and mom - David and Diana - owned this store. They moved to Jersey a few years before Kevin was born.

The conversation changed course a few times. They talked about New York and Jersey. Random celebrities who Matt didn't know about and sports. The young boy - named Kevin - who asked Matt the first question then started probing him about martial arts.

More specifically boxing.

"I'm telling you Mike Tyson would have whooped Muhammad Ali's butt if they fought," Kevin says passionately.

Matt responds just as vigorously, "Ali was way too fast. He'd just keep Tyson away with his footwork and his jab. Tyson would get tired after five or six rounds and Ali would keep on landing shots."

Kevin's father interjects, "Well it depends on when they fought each other. The Ali who fight Sonny Liston is way different than how he was when he fought Holmes. Besides, Ali could take a hell of a beating."

Stilt-Man starts to speak, "Well I think…"

Matt was about to tell him to shut up when Diana starts to scream after feeling a slow trickle of fluid flow down her legs. "My water," she says between heavy breaths. "My waters broken."

Kevin and his father rush towards her while Matt ties up Stilt-Man. He secures him in a few knots of rope he grabbed in the department store and helps Diana up.

Matt talks to David, "Help me lift her up on that table. Kevin get us some hot water and towels." Diana grabs her swollen belly as she is lifted into the table. David holds her hand and tries to comfort her while Kevin brings over a pile of towels.

"What do we do with these?" He asks Matt. Kevin turns around after hearing another scream come out of his mother.

Matt nods his head slowly, thinking. The only thing he knew about child birth was from a few lessons in health class and he slept through most of those. "Give me a minute. I need to make a call." He pulls out his phone and speed dials someone.

Matt taps his foot frantically on the ground. His heart hasn't beaten this fast in weeks. "Alright pick up. Pick up. Hey Claire. I know this is random but what do you know about childbirth?"

Claire excuses herself from her ward and removes her disposable gloves. "You're delivering a baby aren't you?" She asks in an almost casual tone of voice. She would have found it weirder if Matt wasn't asking her about a weird medical procedure. "Ok, where are you?"

"Old department store. I've got her lying on a table and we've got her husband and kid present too."

"When did her contractions start? She asks.

"A few minutes ago."

"Is there a pillow or a cushion you can put under her? It'll help relax her pelvis."

Matt points at a small, inflatable mattress. "Kev. Blow that thing up and give it to your dad. It'll help your mom." Kevin listens to Matt without hesitation and starts to blow into it.

"You're doing great man. Keep it up," Matt says. He puts his phone back to his ear. "Alright, now what?"

"Wash your hands and wear some gloves. After that you'll need to check for crowning," Claire says.

Matt throws his winter gloves off and asks Kevin for some plastic ones. He washes his hands vigorously and puts the gloves on. He stands still for a few moments until a question pops in his mind, "Wait. What's crowning?"

Claire hesitates for a few seconds. She needed to explain this gently. "It's when the baby's head starts to exit her body."

Matt's cheeks start to burn as they filled with blood. "You mean I have to check her um…"

"Yeah. Sorry kid but we need to know what stage of labor she's at."

"You do realise that I'd have to touch her to figure that out right?"

Claire hums in frustration. "I've pulled out knives, bullets and other people's teeth from your body. Checking for a woman's crowning isn't nearly as bad. If anything it's natural. Now get your ass over to her. NOW!"

Matt, pushed on by Claire's outburst, almost throws his phone away and walks towards Diana, who was holding onto her husband's hand like a vice.

"I'm going to have to um… check. If the baby's, you know, coming… out. So, I mean… I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable but…"

Diana grabs Matt by the collar and pulls him in close. "Do I look like I care?" She asks with a crazed expression.

"No?" Matt says meekly.

"Then for God's sake do what you need to do," she screams out.

"Yes ma'am," Matt says with a mouse like voice.

Matt straightens himself up and tells Kevin to look over Stilt-Man. After Kevin leaves Matt takes in a few deep breaths and lifts up Diana's skirt.

The scent of blood and amniotic fluids almost made Matt puke. _I'm so happy I can't see this._

He closes his eyes and feels between Diana's legs but feels no head popping out. He quickly retreats out of her skirt and takes in the clean air. He pulls his phone out again. "There isn't any crowning. Is that normal?"

"I think so," Claire says.

"Wait. You _think_ so?"

"I'm a nurse not a midwife. Ok, touch her belly and tell me if the baby's anywhere near the birth canal."

Matt rubs Diana's stomach and runs his hand up and down, feeling the minute movements of her child. "Alright, he's a few inches away from the birth canal. I think."

David looks at Matt, "What do you mean _he_?"

"Your baby boy. Oh right. Sorry, spoilers."

David and Diana look at each other hopefully while Matt keeps talking to Claire. Matt begins to lightly roll his hands over Diana's belly while she pushed with all her might. She felt like the lower half of her body was on fire but she had been through this before. She won't rest until her son came into this world.

* * *

Hours pass and Kevin was sitting next to Stilt-Man with his hands over his ears. He wipes a few tears from his eyes as he hears his mother screaming through the closed door.

Stilt-Man tries to loosen his restraints but Matt used a series of old Chinese knots that tightens the more the victim struggles. Luckily for Stilt-Man his armour protected him from any bruising but he was kneeling down while bound. He wasn't exactly comfortable.

"Hey kid," he whispers to Kevin. "You mind helping me with these knots? I'm cramping in so many different places." Kevin paid him no mind. All his attention was focused on his mother's screams.

"Hey. Your mom's going to be fine kid. She's got your dad and a superhero in there with her," Stilt-Man says with a bit of strain in his voice. His arms were completely numb from being tied up for so long. But he didn't like seeing Kevin so worried.

Kevin didn't seem reassured by the villains words. Stilt-Man then considers a different course of action. "I know this guy. Goes by the name Leap-Frog. He's another dude Daredevil scuffles with. Those two were in the middle of a fight. Jumping, leaping, punching; that sort of thing. But then a cat starts walking up towards the two. Froggy boy kicks it off the roof but Daredevil literally jumped off the edge of a building to try and catch the thing." Stilt-Man says, still unable to believe how ludicrous the story was.

"He stopped fighting a dude to save a cat. If he's in there with your mom he'll do everything he can to save her and that kid of hers. Don't worry."

Kevin looks up at Stilt-Man, whose face seemed to portray genuine admiration. "You really mean that?" Kevin asks.

"I'm a thief not a liar kid. So, you mind getting rid of a few of these knots?"

Kevin ponders on that question for a few seconds. "Nah. You might steal something."

Stilt-Man lets out a defeated sigh. "Walked right into that one."

* * *

"The baby hasn't moved at all," Matt says with a subdued tone. He was internally freaking out right now, the top of the baby's head has appeared - the initial stages of crowning - but no matter how much Diana pushed, the baby wasn't moving any further.

Diana's cries turned from ones induced by pain to ones of despair long ago. She was exhausted and didn't have any energy left to speak, let alone push a baby out of her.

"What do we do?" Matt asks Claire over the phone.

"Alright. J-just ask the husband if there were any complications with their first child," she tells Matt. Normally they would have the patients details on file if they were in a hospital but they were in New Jersey and couldn't access Diana's medical records from New York. The Team were busy with the ice fortresses so they couldn't give him any information either.

"Did anything like this happen when she had Kevin?" Matt asks.

David rubs his head and rattles his brain, trying to remember anything from that time. "It was so long ago. But, I think they used some sort of vacuum cleaner to help Kevin pop out."

"A VACUUM CLEANER?" Matt shouts out. "That's just going to rip his head off of his body!"

Claire interrupts Matt over the phone, "No, no, no. I think he means they needed a vacuum extraction."

"What's that?" Matt asks.

"It a sort of vacuum pump with a suction cup at the end. You put some gel on the baby's head and the device gently helps pull the child out from the mother."

"Ok. So _can_ we use a normal vacuum cleaner?"

Claire tells Matt that they can't. "No. Like you said it's too powerful."

"Can't you build one?" David asks Matt desperately, still holding on to his wife's hand.

"I'm not a tech guy. But…"

David raises a brow, "But?"

"We've got a guy tied up in the other room who is."

* * *

"You want me to build a vacuum pump? Out of the crap we have in this place? Are you nuts?" Stilt-Man asks incredulously.

Matt shakes his head. "Trust me. You're not exactly my first choice here but unfortunately for us you're literally my only choice. We need you to at least try and build this thing."

"Why the hell would I help you? You and that ninja girl almost crippled me the last time we met. You're the last person I'd want to help."

Matt remembers that night well. Elektra took out his chassis while he ran a car into Stilt-Man's legs, making him fall back first into the road. Matt heard a few cracks but he thought nothing of it at the time. He hears Stilt-Man's bones shifting awkwardly underneath his armour. A few more falls like that and he'll be permanently disfigured.

"Look. We're not friends. I get that. But that woman needs this machine. Her _baby boy_ needs it," Matt says, pointing in Diana's direction. "Look, I heard you talking to Kevin and I'm pretty sure a guy who'd reassure a scared kid wouldn't let his brother die out of spite."

Matt crosses his fingers behind his hand and hoped to God that his speech worked. Stilt-Man scoffs at Matt, "You heard me say that? That's creepy," he says facetiously. He nods at Matt. "I'll help you out. Just this once." Matt nods back at him and puts his hands on the knots that were tying up Stilt-Man.

"If you try anything…"

"You'll beat the shit out of me and throw me in jail. I know. I'd rather not do that dance again."

Matt unties him and when the rope falls to the ground Stilt-Man raises his hands up, enjoying his new found freedom. Though he couldn't enjoy it for long since Matt drags him into the old store room.

The shelves were covered in a thin layer of dust and the temperature was far lower here since all the portable heaters were being used to warm up Diana. Stilt-Man looks through the inventory of the shop and starts to throw a few things off of the shelves.

"Useless. Broken. Empty. Ah, here we are!" the thief exclaims holding up a vacuum cleaner. Matt puts his fingers in his brow.

"You do know that'll kill the kid right?"

Stilt-Man nods and pulls out a few camera cleaning kits. He takes out the clean air blower and throws everything else away. "Give me those scissors," he tells Matt.

Matt hands him the item and Stilt-Man cuts the bulbous blower in half. He then makes a small incision on the vacuum cleaner pipe and attaches one half of the air blower to the suction of the vacuum.

"Alright, I've made a makeshift suction cup and we can fill up the hole I cut in the pipe with a barometer from my suit. That'll help us adjust the pressure. All we need is a bit of lubricant and we're good to go."

Matt crosses his arms, "This seems like a bad idea."

"Hey, you're the guy who hired me."

Stilt-Man makes the final adjustments to their homemade vacuum pump while Matt rummages through the mess Stilt-Man made to find something to use as a gel. The scent of glyceryl and fruit extract enters Matt's nose and he reaches out and grabs a small case. He traces his fingers to read the writing.

"Moisturiser? Better than nothing," Matt tells himself.

"Hey, how much pressure do we need this thing at?" Stilt-Man man asks Matt.

Matt repeats the question to Claire. "0.5 cubic centimetres," She says.

Matt drags Stilt-Man's device over towards Diana, who's blood pressure was steadily decreasing. He asks Claire to run through the procedure.

He hears her over the phone, explaining everything as quickly as possible. Matt pockets the phone and puts his hand in his chest. His heart was pounding uncontrollably and his face quickly becomes drenched in sweat.

Stilt-Man puts his hand on Matt's shoulder. "You're Daredevil. You got this."

David gives Matt a look of approval and Matt puts his hand in the machine. He makes the sign of the cross on his chest and mutters a small prayer.

"Just this once. Please. Let them live."

Matt attaches the suction cup to the baby's head and Stilt-Man adjusts the pressure. They turn on the machine and Matt feels the baby starting to move.

"Alright. We need to change the pressure based on her contractions. You need to gently increase or decrease the pressure on my say so," Matt yells at Stilt-Man, trying to talk over the vacuum cleaner.

"Tell me when," Stilt-Man shouts back.

Matt could feel Diana's uterus contracting and asks that the pressure be decreased. He slowly pulls on the baby's head, till the entire top half of his face was visible. When her uterus was beginning to relax Matt asked for the pressure to be increased.

For the next few minutes this process continued. The entire world seemed to disappear and all Matt could hear was the vacuum, Diana and the baby. Nothing else mattered right now.

"Ok. Increase it again," Matt says for a final time. He hears a great popping noise and he pulls out the child, gently holding on to it like one would an ancient vase.

Matt's heart was in his mouth. The baby didn't stir, nor did it make a single movement. Matt gently rubs his back and rocks him back and forth. Everyone in the room was on edge as Matt continued to try and coax the child back to life.

The baby coughs out some amniotic fluid and Matt hears him wailing. A big smile forms across his face as all the adults in the room cheered. Stilt-Man brings a pair of scissors which he sterilised with alcohol to cut the child's umbilical cord.

Tears stream down Matt's face as he hands the child over to Diana. "He's here. Oh my God. Oh my God," Matt says with disbelief. He gives Stilt-Man a massive hi five and calls Claire.

"We did it. He's alive. He's actually alive!"

"Thank God. Alright. Clean him up and wrap him in warm towels. He'll need to stay warm in this weather," Claire says with a relieved tone. "Matt. You did an amazing job."

"Well I had a great teacher."

"Thanks! But seriously, call me if you need anything else."

"Yeah, thanks so much."

Matt cuts the call and has Stilt-Man warm up the towels on the heater while he gently took the baby out if his mother's grip and washed him. "What're you gonna name him?" He asks.

Stilt-Man wraps the kid in the towels and hands him over to Diana who was discussing baby names with her husband. "We're not sure."

Matt scratches his chin trying to think of a suitable name. One suddenly pops up and he asks, "How about Jack?"

Diana and David look at each other and then at their baby. He had a small tuff of brown hair and was as pink as a rose bud. She cradles him in her arms and asks, "Jack. Do you like that? Aww, yes you do. Yes you do."

David strokes Jack's cheek, making him stir. Kevin stares at his parents and his brother from the other room. "Hey kid. Come over here. Meet your baby brother," Stilt-Man says, beckoning the young boy to come inside.

He cautiously enters the room and sees the small bundle of flesh beneath the blankets. "He's so small," Kevin says.

Everyone in the room laughs. Diana tells Kevin that all baby's were that small, including him when he was Jack's age.

Matt and Stilt-Man slowly sit themselves down in a corner as the family admired their newest member. "That was exhausting," Stilt-Man says. His legs were trembling and he couldn't stand even if he wanted to.

"I know the feeling, I feel like I just went twelve rounds with Nobu," Matt says, completely out of breath.

"Who?" Stilt-Man asks.

"Never mind. So, you got a name or did your parents just call you 'Stilt-Man'?"

"Names Wilbur Day. You know, I figured you'd have some sort of secret base where you spied on all the criminals in New York."

"People think that?" Matt asks.

Wilbur scoffs, "We make up all these crazy stories about you in the clink. Some guy says that you're a ghost. Another dude thinks that you're some kind of vampire. A few of us thought there was more than one of you But that isn't it. You're just a normal dude and that's way scarier."

"No normal person dresses up like the Devil and beats up a guy in stilts. What's with the stilt gimmick anyway?"

Wilbur shakes his head. "It's not something I talk about much."

"I'm just saying. A guy as smart as you could help a lot of people. You know, instead of robbing banks."

"You don't get it. No one cares about helping people in the real world. It's all about profits. If a company had to choose between saving lives or making their bottom line they wouldn't even hesitate."

Matt gives him a sympathetic look. "Guessing you're talking from experience."

"Let's just say I pissed off some powerful folks at my old job. They fired me and now I have to rob people just to make ends meet," Wilbur says, looking away from Matt. "Then you came along and I had to move out of New York. You were such a pain in the ass."

"So. Hypothetically. If you had a job, you'd stop stealing?" Matt asks, ignoring Wilbur's last few sentences.

Wilbur waves his hand, "Yeah. Like anyone would want to hire an ex-con."

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 11th 2010:**

"You want me to hire Stilt-Man?" Melvin Potter asks Matt over the phone. "That's a joke right?"

"Look, I know that he's not exactly A-list material but you've talked about his suits before."

Melvin rubs his bald head and tries to recollect what he said about the thief. "I mean that hydraulics system he invented is cutting edge but the design of his suit was terrible.

"Seriously. He could apply that technical know how in a billion different ways and he makes stilts. Not sure why I'd want to hire him."

Matt's mind races as he struggles to find an answer. "He hit a rough patch and got into the wrong line of work. He'd do anything to get back on the straight and narrow. You know what that's like Melvin."

Melvin traces his finger along the side of his stomach and shudders at the touch. Prison is not easy for anyone, even for someone of his size.

"I can give him a shot but you owe me a carton of chocolate milk for this."

Matt smiles, "You know what? I'll buy you two cartons. Thanks Melvin."

"Sweet. Oh, by the way, I've got a few new designs for your armour that need testing out. You can pick them up tonight if the snow isn't an issue," Melvin says excitedly. Matt found his enthusiasm endearing.

"Rain check on that. I'll see you later." Matt cuts the call and puts his phone away. He would inform Wilbur in the morning. Right now, he was laying low in New Jersey, waiting for the snow to melt. He called Connor and apparently the Super Cycle didn't consider the distance between New York and New Jersey to be that great since it was used to measuring distance in light years. At least the Zeta tubes started working a few hours after he helped Diana give birth.

Matt closes his eyes and feels the cold air rushing past him. Rooftops were always cold and windy places but right now, every gust of wind felt as if buckets of ice water were being poured on him. Matt could perceive the cities landscape thanks to his radar sense, tall, monolithic buildings that shared a long and storied history. Roads laid out in a grid that supposedly made traffic flow easier, though Matt wasn't convinced of that.

The city felt so alive whenever he stood above it. There was always so much going on. Pigeons escaping the clutches of angry tourists, cab drivers making idle chit chat with patrons, people eating at small restaurants with food that tasted so good that Matt's mouth watered just thinking about it. He never knew how much he missed just soaking in the beauty of New York.

One sound catches Matt's attention. He hears a Mexican woman comforting her child by putting a blanket on her in the building he was standing on and he smiles.

Jack and his mother were alive thanks to him. Wilbur has a chance at sorting out his life thanks to him. Saving lives, helping people. It was the one thing Matt was good at. And bringing a baby into this world did wonders to improve one's outlook on life.

He lets out a slow and deliberate breath and allows himself to hear everything. The sound of cars driving along the road, kids fighting their siblings for their parents' phones, couples arguing over petty drivel. The good, the bad and ugly. The city had it all and it wouldn't hurt if someone made sure that the good stuff prevailed a bit more often.

 _This life could kill me. Jumping off rooftops. Dodging gunfire. Fighting criminals every night,_ Matt thinks, fondling his cloth mask. _But does that even matter? Everyone dies eventually. Might as well save a few lives along the way._

Matt turns his head, hearing a few robbers breaking into a snowed in home. Matt wraps the black piece of cloth around his head and without a second thought, he leaps off of the building.

 _I'm Daredevil and I save people. And God help anyone who tries to stop me._

* * *

Sal Bertinelli looks out of his window. The view from his skyscraper made the city below look like a toy model. He takes in a large puff from his thick cigar and blows out a small cloud of smoke. He turns around and addresses the men sat at his table.

"Gentlemen. I'm sure y'all are aware that the city's now at a tipping point. The Yakuza have been taking hits thanks to a few select raids, courtesy of our sources in the NYPD and the Russians have been in decline for sometime.

"Daredevil's been a no show for weeks. Now's the time men. The time for the Bertinelli's to rise up to our rightful place and take control of this city once and for all."

Sal raises a glass, "Salut," he says. The men at the table repeat the toast and they take a sip of champagne.

At that moment the lights in the room turn off and everyone in the room gets up. They hear gunfire and screaming outside the meeting room. They instinctively reach for their guns but they feel nothing. They surrendered their weapons to security before the meeting started.

Sal fumbles around in his suit pocket and removes a lighter. He was about to light it up but drops it on the floor after hearing a loud bang at the door. The doors fly off their hinges and Sal runs towards the window, trying to let the moonlight give him a visual of the room.

He hears his men falling to the floor and screams in horror as a decapitated head rolls towards his feet. Sal's scream stops as he feels cold steel flush against his neck. Sal's breath was erratic and his heart was beating like a Cherokee drum.

"You fear death don't you?" His assailant says softly. "You've no need to worry. Death is a part of life. It's too be welcomed with open arms."

Sal's throat is sliced wide open and the assassin grabs a hold of his head and tilts it backwards, allowing him to bleed out quickly. A prolonged death had no dignity.

She stands up to wipe the blood off of her blade and takes a look at her reflection in the moon lit window. She frowns at the sight and strikes the bullet proof glass hard enough to crack it, distorting her image.

No distractions. There was only the mission.

* * *

 **He's back! Kinda.**

 **It'll take Matt a while to get back into the swing of things and he'll be operating solo for some time. But he'll interact with the Team in some capacity, don't worry.**

 **I wanted something relatively small to bring Matt back into the life since it was a little girl being abused by her drunk father that spurred Matt into action. Wally delivered the heart to that Princess this episode so I thought what's the other medical cliché I can use. I know, childbirth.**

 **Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter.**

 **Response to non PM comments:**

 **TheKike:**

 **It about it, for the agendas chapter where the league talks about the possible candidates Batman could talk about Daredevil since Matt and Bruce are identical in that aspect, it continues like this was incredible.**

 **Me:**

 **Well, I'll acknowledge the events in that episode, not to worry. But Matt's got more things to worry about.**

 **Anyways. I'll see you later.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Resurrection:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 12th 2010:**

Detective Blake always assumed that he would find this part of the job easier as time progressed. He was a soldier before becoming a homicide detective but the sight of a dozen men being meticulously cut open like pigs in a slaughterhouse was not something that he saw very often. The worst part about staying in a room filled with the recently departed wasn't the sight of blood or seeing the lifeless looks in their eyes - if the corpse had them left in their heads that is. The worst part was the smell. The body usually excretes whatever waste it had stored in the large intestine after dying so the entire room smelled of stale excrement. The cold air only made the smell worse.

Blake was about to exit the room to question the people on the floors below till an officer tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir," he whispered, pointing towards an open window. Blake turns around and sees a young man wearing black and he dismisses the officer.

"Everybody out," Blake commanded. He and Matt waited as the forensic personnel and the other cops walked away from the crime scene. Blake puts his hands in his pockets and smiles at Matt. "Guess all it takes to get a superhero out of retirement is a bunch of dead mobsters," Blake said sarcastically.

Matt walked towards Blake chuckling, "Either that or a gang war. It's good to see you again," Matt said, extending his hand. Blake grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him for a firm handshake.

"Yeah you too," Blake said. "Haven't seen you wear that in a while. The red suit at the dry cleaners?"

"Something like that. What do we have?"

Blakes face morphed into a more serious look. His cop mode, as his boyfriend liked to call it. "Right, down to business. Coroner says that the victims died anywhere between one or two AM. The security cameras were put on a loop so they're pretty much useless and the victims seem to have been killed by precision strikes with a bladed weapon."

"Whoever did this was fast. Look at the placement of the bullet holes in the walls. They were firing at one moving target," Matt said, making out the structure of the wall with a touch. "Plus they must have been pretty short judging by the upward angle of the cuts. Five five or five six maybe. How did the suspect get in?" Matt asked.

Blake pulled up a few pictures on his phone. "We found a couple of empty containers that the catering staff use to ship in food. The shipment manifest showed that two extra containers were delivered along with their usual order. Suspect probably hid himself and his weapons in those boxes. Forensics are checking them out at the lab."

Matt, who was pretending to analyse the photo nodded. "What are we thinking? The Hand? Shadows? Some independent party?"

"We're not sure yet. We'll get a better idea after forensics finishes up."

"I'll keep patrolling the city. See if anything pops up," Matt said as he turned around. "How long can you keep this quiet?"

"Twenty four hours. Maybe. But word will get out way before we give an official statement," Blake said, scratching his head.

"Sal Bertinelli's dead. The power vacuum will lead to skirmishes between the smaller gangs. Maybe even an all-out gang war if things escalate.

"Not to mention we've got a professional assassin on the loose. These are things that the city doesn't need," Matt said with a serious tone.

Blake nods, "We've dealt with this when you took down Big Figure."

"Yeah. But we didn't have to deal with super assassins a year ago. We'll have to inform the TAC team that I'll be involved in their raids again," Matt said.

"They aren't gonna like that," Blake said, smiling. "Who was that officer who came onto you?"

Matt blushed, "I turned her down. Hard."

"You'll be glad to hear that she's transferred to Chicago. But I've got to finish up here. I'll let you know if I get anything."

Matt nodded and walked towards the window and perched himself on the window sill. He pulled out his Billy club and swung away from the building. He makes a list in his head of potential suspects and goes through it. He wouldn't let a murderer run free in his city.

* * *

"This isn't as bad as it seems sir," Lieutenant Hargreaves said. He ducked underneath a pen thrown at him by the grey-haired man in front of him.

"Bad? Bad? Sal's dead. Cut up like he was in a slaughterhouse!" The older man shouted out.

Lieutenant Hargreaves raised his hands, "Captain. You need to calm down." Captain Morgan stood up with a red face but could hear people outside the office murmuring. He told Hargreaves to close the blinds.

The captain opened his drawers on his desk and opened a secret compartment. He took out a large bottle of whisky and poured a small amount into two glasses. He handed over a glass to Hargreaves and gulped down the amber liquid.

"You blithering idiot. Sal was an informant. He'd give us and the feds info in exchange for us being a bit lenient when we dealt with his _other_ activities. Plus the money he donated to our department wasn't unwanted.

"With him gone… Jesus. I don't even wanna know what type of monsters gonna replace him," the captain said. He lowered his head to look at the bottle only to hear a thud. He raised his head and saw that Hargreaves was missing.

Captain Morgan stood up but the moment he did, he felt something pierce his throat. He could feel the warmth of his blood as it gushed out of his neck like a running tap. He tried to breathe but could only gulp like a fish.

Morgan fell to the floor and saw the body of his lieutenant, whose head was sliced open like a lemon. The two policemen bleed out on the floor, squirming and unable to scream.

A figure stood above them, watching as their lives quickly escaped their bodies. She wanted to make sure that their last moments were witnessed.

It was the honourable thing to do.

* * *

Matt stood on the rooftop of the precinct with his arms crossed. He focused on his breathing, regulating his temperature, making the snow beneath him melt. He could hear the chaos both within the building and around it. Law enforcement officers were running around, trying to figure out how anyone could have killed a police captain and his lieutenant in the middle of a police station.

The press was waiting outside like vultures. Despite the fact that a statement hasn't even been issued yet the so-called 'reporters' started speculating wildly. From rumours stating that this was a double suicide, the lieutenant murdering the captain for pay disputes and vice versa to one reporter claiming that the Devil possessed them and made them kill each other.

Two men were found murdered. Men with families, kids and all these reporters cared about was cooking up a juicy story that would sell their papers. It made Matt sick to his stomach.

Matt heard a set of footsteps coming up from the staircase and he straightened himself up. He heard detective Blake opening the door to the rooftop, grabbing his gut and breathing extremely hard. Matt could taste the spoilt meat on Blake's teeth.

"I told you that the meat guy on 41st street sucks," Matt said, staying clear of Blake. He didn't want any vomit getting on his clothes.

Blake rubbed his throat and shook his head. "I… I'm fine. It's the stairs. Think they added a few more since last time."

"Sure they did. How long did it take you to recover the bodies?"

"Not fast enough. Whoever did it was making a statement. The captain and lieutenants bodies were strung up and hung outside the cap's window in this office."

Matt rubbed his chin, "They kept Sal's death quiet but made a public display with these two? Why?"

"Maybe we didn't react the way they wanted to and this was their way of showing how serious they were," Blake said. "We also found trace amounts of snake venom in the cap's drink."

"Snake venom?" Matt asked.

"Yeah. The venom dissolved into ethanol so it couldn't kill anyone. But it probably added an extra kick that the cap wasn't expecting."

"Made it easier to catch them off guard. I…" Matt said but was interrupted by a beeping in his ear. Matt excused himself and answered the call.

Matt refused to speak, preferring to make the man calling him talk first. After a few suspenseful seconds, Matt heard a gruff Russian voice over his communicators.

"дьявол."

 _Devil._

"Anatoly. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Matt asked him in Russian.

"Your accent has improved Devil. I would like to invite you to dinner. Cantina rooftop. One hour," Anatoly said with a kind but firm voice.

It wasn't every day the head of the Bratva called you for a meal. "I'll be there."

He cut the call and turned to Blake. "I got a lead. I'll let you know if it pans out. And detective, you really need to buy some Pepto Bismol. Your stomach sounds like it's waging a war on your insides."

Blake turned to face Matt but unsurprisingly he wasn't there anymore. "I really need to learn that ninja trick."

* * *

"That... Is the worst disguise I have ever seen дьявол. Which is saying something," Anatoly said taking a bite out of his steak.

Matt shrugged, almost making his false nose and beard fall off. He wore a bald cap and some fake tan along with a baseball cap and sunglasses. He looked like a middle-aged man going through a midlife crisis but no one would be able to identify him as Matt Murdock.

Hopefully.

Matt also took care not to touch anything on the table. Batman made sure that no law enforcement agency could ID his fingerprints but better safe than sorry. He was dealing with the head of the Russian mafia after all.

"You're the one who wanted to meet in a public place. You honestly think that'll keep you safe?" Matt asked.

Anatoly took a sip of his wine and sighed. "They killed Sal inside his building. That place was like fortress. But they did it anyway. Your police were also killed in their own building. The way I see it, if they want me dead I may as well have nice view," he said, taking in the sight of New York's skyscrapers.

"You have something for me?" Matt asked, feeling impatient.

Anatoly casually slips out an envelope from his suit pocket and slides across the table towards Matt who picks it up. "What is this?"

"Information. My men claimed to have spotted ninja coming in and out of that building," Anatoly said, pointing at a photograph.

Matt nodded and acted as though he was analysing the photograph intensely. "You have an address for this place?"

"It's on back. If you find something, I trust you'll take care of this problem with discretion?" Anatoly asked expectantly.

Matt brushed his fingers over the text on the back of the photo and stood up, pocketing the photo. "We'll see." Matt started to walk away but feels Anatoly grab his arm.

"You saved my granddaughter from the Hand. I will always be grateful for that. But if these events lead to war and you can't find a way to de-escalate things, I will be forced to defend my territory by any means necessary," Anatoly warned.

Matt turned his head towards him. "Hope it doesn't come to that."

"Neither do I. War is not as glorious as the youth like to think," Anatoly said wearily, holding onto the cross tired around his neck.

Matt disappeared into a crowd away from Anatoly's sight. A million thoughts were trying through his head and they were all focused on one thing.

The Hand.

 _They must have made their HQ at that building while I was on break. But why kill these people. Why start a gang war in New York?_ Matt thought as he shed his disguise. He disposed of it in a trash can and walked into an alley.

Matt cracked his knuckles in eager anticipation. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and his heart was beating faster than ever. If the Hand were responsible for these murders then Matt would take great pleasure in ending their operations once and for all.

* * *

 _No activity in the building for the past two hours,_ Matt thought as he focused on the structure with his senses once again. His hand went behind his back to feel for his two swords strapped behind him. He checked his Billy clubs after ensuring that his swords were securely fastened.

Matt was wearing his black costume instead of his armour since he did not have the time to get a new set from Melvin. He wanted to end this fight as soon as possible and he felt that a couple of stab wounds would be a minor price to pay.

Matt knew that the Hand could hide their presence from him with ease and that he would struggle to detect them even if a hundred ninja were present in the building. But his focus was elsewhere. Even if he couldn't hear them they had to interact with the environment eventually; he expected to hear the sound of a door creaking open or the sound of a blade being drawn or cloth waving through the air. But so far he heard nothing.

There was no indication that the building was in use recently. It was run down, grey and overrun with plant growth. This building was in such a state of disrepair that Matt was pretty sure that it would stand out even in the shadiest part of Gotham. Matt could not smell any trace of vehicular exhaust near the building or hear any electricity running through its walls. Plus, the snow surrounding the building seemed to be undisturbed.

He doubted Anatoly's tip was bogus but Matt was almost certain that this was a trap set by the Hand. The smart thing to do would be to scout this building for a couple more days and raid it alongside some form of backup. But that wasn't how Matt did things.

Unable to tolerate being idle for a moment longer, Matt removed one of his clubs and grappled down towards the entrance of the building. The Hand almost always engaged him in a straight-up fight, their members had this morbid obsession with conflict and that would serve to help Matt since the closer their ninjas got to him, the easier it is for him to detect them.

He entered the building slowly, his hands gripping his clubs tightly, ready to spring them into action if needed. The chillness of the air made the hairs on his skin stand up and his toes twitch. He was freezing but at least the cold would keep him on edge.

On occasion Matt would tap his Billy club on the wall, allowing the soundwaves to travel across parts of the building to give him a better 'view'. The building was five stories tall and was void of any distinguishing features except for what felt like a table on the third floor. Matt found the staircase and cautiously climbed up, hugging the walls. He craned his head side to side, trying to detect any attempts of a stealth attack. He knew that his efforts were almost useless but it wouldn't hurt to try.

After about two minutes Matt reached the third floor. There were no doors in the door frames and the table was positioned in the centre of the room. It was collapsable and had nothing on it but Matt could tell that it was in use recently since it had a very thin layer of dust on its surface compared to the rest of the building and he could feel microscopic traces of paper impacting his skin. Matt detected a small amount of heat in the corner of the room and walked passed the table to investigate.

He crouched down over the source and hovered his hand over the smouldering pile of paper. Matt took in a deep breath and concentrated on the scents of whatever that was burning. After filtering out the smell of smoke and ash, Matt detected the unmistakable odour of a photosensitive ferric compound - the stuff used in making blueprint paper. The fire was lit around two hours ago and done so in haste since there were a few pieces of paper that were yet unburned.

Matt shuffled through the hot ash and managed to find a small piece of slightly burned paper. He took off his glove and traced his finger over the paper to see if there was any useful text on it. He read it and did the same to all the partially or lightly burned pieces.

There wasn't much that Matt could make out. Only that these blueprints were representing the plans to a ditch or a tunnel. Matt started to ponder why the Hand would want with a ditch or where it could be in the city when he felt the air behind him shift rapidly.

He rolled to his left just in time before a foot smashed into the wall above the old fire. Matt brandished his Billy clubs as his assailant removed their foot from the wall and turned to face Matt.

 _Five-foot six. Female outline. Hundred and thirty pounds. About as strong as Aqualad, judging by that kick and she's really fast. No breath or heartbeat,_ Matt surmised in his head. He could hear the faint rattling of metal on his new opponent, indicating she had a few bladed weapons on her person.

The fighters start to circle each other, shifting their bodies into different stances and angles to get into a preferable position. Matt found the way she moved oddly familiar. He decided to press forward and initiate the fight.

His opponent threw a jab which he ducked under. Matt countered with an upward strike with his club only for his opponent to slap his arm downwards and sweep him off of his feet with her legs.

Matt groaned as his face slammed into the ground. His tongue flickered across his lips which now had a small cut and threw his Billy club against the roof. The weapon ricocheted off the surface and onto the back of her head, making her stagger. Matt got up and leapt into the air, driving a flying knee straight into her face, making her stumble backwards.

Normally that would be enough to knock out most opponents but this girl seemed almost as stubborn as he was and wasn't even phased by the attack, despite the sharp pain in her nose. Matt followed through with vicious strike to get temple with his clubs that sent her head jolting side to side.

Matt wasn't sure why she was letting him hit him but he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. He lowered himself and struck her at her knees, making her legs wobble. Seeing his chance, he decided to aim at her chin but she was ready. She pulled out a knife lowered it downwards faster than Matt expected and stabbed him in the shoulder making him drop one off his clubs.

Matt kicked the knife out of her hand and she responded by spinning around and kicking him on his wounded shoulder with enough force to send him flying across the other side of the room. Matt slid across the floor, leaving behind a trail of blood. He touched his wound and was happy to note that the knife didn't cut him too deeply.

He ignored the stinging sensation of his shoulder and pulled out his reverse edged katana. The girl saw this and removed a collapsible sword from her back and raised it over her head, ready to strike Matt down if he came close.

Matt sped towards her but instead of attacking her head on he decided to leap over her and he struck her in the body. Matt then hit her on the head and wrist, making her groan as she dropped her sword. He then swung upwards and hit her straight in the chin, knocking her down for the first time.

The girl looks at Matt with a confused expression. She wasn't sure how his sword didn't cut her into pieces. She spat out a few drops of blood and takes a hard look at his sword and notices that the edge of the blade was on the back of the sword.

Matt smirked, his enchanted sword would burn most people alive thanks to its enchantments. With his reverse edged blade, he could go all out on an opponent and not worry about killing them. Though he couldn't exactly cut anything with it unless he turned to sword around to the sharp edge.

The assassin's vision started to blur and Matt could feel her temperature increase dramatically. Something was happening to her. He detected her metabolism speeding up, healing all the wounds she had accumulated thus far in the fight. She closed her fists as she suppressed a loud scream as her body started shaking in pain.

Matt could feel a magical presence inside of her. Growing, almost like it was gestating. The heat suddenly stopped and the assassin felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She ran towards Matt, grabbed him by the throat and threw him through a window. Half of his body hung outside the window and he heard the assassin run up the stairs at a speed Matt could never hope to match.

"What the hell was that?" he asked himself as he pulled his upper half back into the building. "Magic. I hate magic," he said sternly. He grabbed his sword and followed the girl. Magic or not she was Hand and he needed answers.

He ran up the stairs and ducked, dodging a punch to the face. Matt pushed forward and swung his sword at the assassins vital spots and she used her elbows and knees to block them as they fought their way up the stairs. The sword gave Matt a reach advantage that the assassin could not compensate for and every hit she took slowly whittled down her resolve. Matt knew that whatever healed her before drained a lot of energy from her and that took a toll on her stamina.

Matt noticed an opening at her neck and swung his sword straight for her trachea, no one could fight if they couldn't breathe. His opponent raised her arms to block the sword and then grabbed Matt by the shoulder, digging her fingers into his wound. Matt bit his lip and tried to fight through the pain but he couldn't help but loosen his grip on the hilt of the sword.

The assassin struck Matt on the side of the neck, making him almost lose his balance and delivered a powerful kick to his chest that launched him down the staircase and into the wall below, cracking it on impact. Matt screamed in pain as he felt concrete tear through his clothes and pierce his skin. He leaned his head against the wall as he struggled to get his bearings.

He could feel broken bits of the wall scrape against his skin and he let out a small whine as he used his sword to prop himself up. Matt tried to take a step forward but fell to the ground, unable to stay upright.

 _I've taken worse hits before. I can get up,_ Matt thought. He slapped himself in the face to try and force some energy into his body but he couldn't seem to muster enough of it to get back up. Matt turns his head upward after hearing the assassin tapping against the wall of the top floor.

She was taunting him.

Matt let out a frustrated sigh and slowly stood himself up, using the walls as support. He felt so tired but didn't understand why. He kept on training during his brief retirement and any cumulative damage he had received over the course of his vigilante career had basically healed during his time off so his body was in perfect condition.

Matt slapped himself again. _You're here to fight not to complain,_ he reminded himself. He swung his sword in the air and focused on the sound of metal cutting through the air. _Aim this at her head. Fracture her skull, puncture her lungs, destroying her kidneys. Do whatever it takes to win._

With a slight renewal in energy, Matt ran up the stairs one more time to the top of the building. He walked outside on to the terrace and noticed that the assassin was waiting for him.

Matt held his sword with both hands and pointed it straight at her. She saw that he was out of breath and would likely want to end the fight quickly. If he wanted to hasten his death she would be more than happy to oblige. He was a far more interesting target than the police officers and mobsters she killed earlier.

She put her hands behind her back and pulled out two weapons. Matt recognised them as sais. He noticed a slight twitch in her arms, no doubt due to the punishment she received from his sword. His attacks were definitely hurting her.

 _She wants to disarm and stab. Well, good luck with that._

Matt waited patiently, he knew that he wouldn't be able to take her on directly but if she came towards him, he would have a chance at countering her with a crippling blow. It was a risk but he didn't have much of a choice at this point.

He hears her weapons slicing through the air as she came leapt towards him. Matt stepped aside and swing at her wrist but she predicted the attack and used prong like protrusion of the sai to trap Matt's blade. She twists her blades to the left to try and disarm him but Matt moved his sword in the same direction which allowed him to gain some leverage. He pushed against her sai and a high pitched whine was heard as Matt's sword dragged against her sai.

The assassin's face was inches away from Matts. He focused all his attention on her, taking in every detail about her, even the smallest movement might help him predict her next attack. Matt focused on her facial features as well.

Matt shook his head in disbelief when he first perceived the structure of her face.

 _That's not possible_.

He thought about it for a few more seconds. Her height, her build, her fighting style, her face. They all belonged to someone he thought long gone. Matt felt like his heart was in his throat when he finally recognised the young woman in front of her.

"Elektra?" Matt asked quietly.

Matt screamed out as he felt a sharp pain enter his side. Elektra kicked him to the ground as Matt grasped the sai that was now wedged inside of him. She put her knee on his throat and gave him an icy cold stare and asked, "Who's Elektra?"

She raised her second sai above Matt's head and was ready to strike him down. Elektra lowered her weapon in a stabbing motion but stopped half an inch away from Matt's face after she heard a voice commanding her to stop. Elektra pulled her other blade out of Matt's body quickly making him breathe heavily and roll on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

She walked away briskly and Matt stayed on the floor completely shell-shocked. "Elektra!" He cried out, stumbling towards her in a half crawl, half walk like motion. Elektra paid Matt no attention which only made him more desperate to speak with her.

Matt was about to call out to get again till he heard a small object coming towards him at a blistering speed. He raised his sword to block it and the impact was strong enough to make Matt drop his weapon to the ground. Matt felt the projectile float to the ground and surmised that it was just a playing card.

Even in his current state of shock, he could feel the rage bubbling inside of him. Only one person could throw like that. "Bullseye," Matt spat out as he heard his heartbeat emerge. He must have been on the roof the entire time, suppressing his bodily functions.

"You've no idea how long I've been waiting for this lad," Bullseye said, shuffling a deck of cards. Elektra stood right, next to Bullseye much to Matt's surprise, a feeling which didn't last long as a powerful right hand slammed directly into his stab wound making Matt fall to his knees and puke up a noxious mixture of vomit and blood.

"Hello Daredevil," a smooth voice said.

Matt clutched his wound, desperate for the pain he felt to stop. "Davos?" Matt asked. He heard Davos walk right next to Bullseye and Elektra.

 _If they're here, that means that…_ Matt began to think until he felt the floor beneath him start to crumble. He threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the collapse of the part of the floor he previously stood on. He felt two people emerge from the newly formed hole.

"Quake. Psylocke?"

Psylocke gave Matt a vengeful scowl and went to join her comrades in a huff. Quake blew a kiss towards Matt and skipped her way towards Psylocke.

Five members of the hand stood before him but Matt knew there were two unaccounted for. A gap formed in the middle of the five and Matt heard two powerful heartbeats emerge.

One belonged to Nobu, who seemed to be wearing traditional Hand ninja garb, which made sense since he was second in charge of the hand. But the mere presence of the last heartbeat made everyone else around her cower in fear. Bullseye and Davos refused to make eye contact with her. Even Elektra seemed uneasy by being in her presence.

Matt heard a set of light but purposeful footsteps walk towards him. They stopped a few feet in front of him.

The woman was slightly taller than Elektra with a similar olive skin tone. She had short black hair and brown eyes and wore a dark red, skin-tight suit filled with secret compartments.

She had an aura of authority that rivalled Batman's and even Matt felt wary of being this close to her. She looked down at Matt and with a clear and cutting voice said, "Mister Murdock. It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"Lady Shiva I presume," Matt said between a few long breaths. He spoke slowly so as to not aggravate his wounds.

Shiva stared at Matt coldly. Unlike her sisters French-English accent which was almost pleasurable to the ears, Shiva sounded like a cold-hearted, American businesswoman. There wasn't any hint of emotion in her voice.

"I've been monitoring your activities for the past few months Mister Murdock and I must say, you are quite the specimen. You've routinely bested some of my best fighters despite your unwillingness to take a life."

Matt heard her talk some more but he didn't listen. After a few moments, he began to laugh despite the pain from his stab wounds making the action unbearable.

"Let me guess. You're gonna try and recruit me to the cause. Use my abilities to help your side."

Shiva looked at Matt with a bemused expression. "You mistake me, Mister Murdock. This is not an offer. This is a threat," she said frankly.

"A threat? Are you kidding? I'm not gonna stop fighting you people. Especially after what you did to Elektra," Matt said firmly, grasping the hilt of his sword.

Shiva turned her back towards him, "You are in no condition to fight," she said as she began to walk away from him.

Matt felt his handshaking. He started to breathe heavily and his heartfelt heavy as the anger slowly built up in his body. These people killed Elektra. They _took her_ away from him and Elektra's own sister probably ordered the hit. And here she was, treating him like some invalid.

Matt didn't care about his injuries, he wanted to deal with Shiva the old fashioned way. He quickly ran behind Shiva and leapt in the air to bring his sword down on her head with as much force as he could muster.

Shiva casually moved her arm behind her and caught the sword between her fingers without even looking. She pulled the sword away from Matts grasp before he even landed and used her free hand to strike him in the chest with her palm.

A loud crack exited Matt's body as Shiva cracked his sternum with a single blow, breaking a few ribs as well. Matt fell on the ground like a limp body. He started to exhale erratically as his lungs struggled to take in air and his heart was barely beating. The strike stopped it from functioning for a few seconds but that time felt like hours to Matt who felt like he was in a massive car crash. This isn't the first time Matt lost a fight but it usually took his opponent more than one move to take him down.

Matt started to panic as Shiva put her boot to his throat, applying enough pressure to stop what little air circulation there was in his broken body. "I'm letting you live out of respect for our old master. If you wish to delude yourself into thinking that wearing a costume and running around this cesspool of a city is helping the weak and helpless then be my guest. Run around to your heart's content.

"But if you continue to interfere with my operations again I will not hesitate to target your loved ones. Britt Reid senior and his son. Lakshmi Prabhakar, Mark Murdock, Claire Temple, Dick Grayson, Artemis Crock, Kaldur'ahm, Connor Kent, Wally West, M'gann M'orzz, Zatanna Zatarra.

"They will all suffer if you interfere with my operations again. Consider this a _mercy_ , which is more than you deserve considering what you did to my sister," Shiva said with a hint of anger.

Matt coughed out a few words of his own from his blood-filled mouth, "YOU'RE THE ONE. WHO HAD HER KILLED!"

Shiva applied more pressure to his throat making him flail against her foot. "Bullseye tells me that Elektra had more than a few opportunities to kill him during their scuffle but chose not to use them. No doubt thanks to your influence. And look where that got her. Killed by a lesser fighter. Left to die alone.

"You made her weak and I will never forgive you for that."

That statement made Matt stop his fruitless struggle. Shiva stepped off of Matt and walked towards her entourage. They moved out of the way to let her jump off of the building first but they all turn back and looked as Matt slowly propped himself up, using his sword as a cane.

He couldn't speak but his message was clear. Matt would not leave without Elektra.

Bullseye stepped forward, eager to kill Matt where he stood. "No," Shiva said. "You've had your fair share of chances. Nobu. Take care of him," she said giving him Psylocke's katana.

The Japanese man bowed as the rest of the Hand leapt off the building. Elektra gave Matt one last look before she followed her group. She felt like she knew her target somehow.

After they were out of sight Nobu turned his attention towards Matt, who could barely stand or breath. He took out a small pouch from his robe and tossed it towards Matt who managed to catch it.

"The vial in there contains a liquid that will help heal your internal wounds. The gel capsules should be smothered over your external wounds. Combined with your healing meditation and you should be at full health within an hour," Nobu said with a deep and sincere voice.

Matt held the pouch sceptically. "I have no interest in fighting a cripple Akuma-San. Take this time to heal and if you best me in combat I shall tell you all that you want to know."

Nobu made no attempt to hide his heartbeat so that Matt knew he was telling the truth. Matt was minutes away from fainting and Nobu was well aware of that and yet made no attempt to attack him. Reluctantly, Matt opened the pouch and used the medicine that was in it.

The liquid tasted metallic and the gel was cold to the touch. But he could feel them relaxing his body already. He sat down and closed his, beginning his meditation. Nobu sat down to do the same.

The most intense hour in Matt's life passed and he opened his eyes. He sprang back up with youthful energy and started to stretch his body. Whatever that stuff would probably have killed him in larger doses considering how they speed up the bodies cellular regeneration but Nobu gave him just enough to heal him.

Matt sheathed his reverse edged sword and took out his sharp, _enchanted_ one. Nobu stood up and bowed before Matt and removed a sword of his own. Matt rubbed his hand against his sword and ignited it.

Matt should have been wondering about what the Hand wanted in New York and why they had all those people killed. But at this moment Matt could care less about that. He only had one question on his mind. "What did you do to Elektra?" Matt asked.

"Remember our agreement Akuma-San. I agreed to talk only after my defeat. I hope you have improved since our last bout," Nobu said.

"Why don't you find out?" Matt responded.

Nobu lunged forward and thrust at Matt with his sword. Matt blocked each strike with quick and precise motions but was being pushed backwards. Matt, wanting to become the aggressor of this fight swiped down only for Nobu to step aside. He then aimed his sword at Matt's knee.

Matt stepped backwards and swiped at Nobu's legs. The older fighter leapt above the sword, the soles of his shoes becoming singed from the heat of the fire from Matt's sword. Matt aimed for Nobu's head but Nobu leaned forward making Matt stop his strike halfway to prevent him from cutting Nobu's head off.

That was an action that Nobu expected of Matt and he used Matt's brief moment of hesitation to strike him in the shoulder, cutting him in the process. Matt reeled back and checked his new cut. It was not deep but he was getting fed up of being injured so often.

Matt sighed and sheathed his sword and tied it up to his hip. Nobu, understanding Matt's action does the same with his sword. They both lower their upper bodies and their hands hover above their sheathed sword hilts like a cowboy would with a revolver.

The act of stepping forward whilst unsheathing a katana can increase the speed of an attack but left you open if you missed. So far Matt and Nobu were at almost equal footing, with Matt being slightly faster. If either of them messed up their next move the fight would end very quickly.

Nobu stared at Matt. Both fighters were anxious to see who would draw their swords the fastest. A drop of sweat falls from both their foreheads and they both clasp their hilts simultaneously. Matt stepped forward, trying to drive his sword into Nobu's chest but Nobu anticipated the attack and leapt to the side.

Matt tried to raise his sword upwards to strike but his stance was weak. Nobu swept his sword down in a chopping motion, striking Matt's blade hard enough to shatter it in half, sending sparks flying through the air.

Matt cried out as a small shard of metal penetrated the top of his eyebrow, burning the skin there due to its heat. Nobu kicked Matt to the ground and put his sword against his forehead. Matt laid there, unwilling to fight back. He lost three times today. Any drive to fight back ended when Nobu cut his sword in half.

Instead of killing Matt as he laid defeated on the ground, Nobu sheathed his sword and bowed to his defeated opponent. "You have fought well Akuma-San. I trust that you'll do better when we meet again."

With that, he turned around and started to walk away. "Hey!" Matt cried out, making Nobu stop walking. "Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?" He asked with a tired tone.

Nobu considered his answer for a moment. "It is the duty of one's elders to nurture the youth. You have great potential. It would be wasteful to squander it." Matt seemed unconvinced by this answer so Nobu continued to speak.

"Let me ask you this. Why did you lose this time? The first time we fought you were outmatched. I was stronger, faster and a much better fighter. But this time around you should have defeated me.

"You're faster than I am, younger and had similar skills and the superior weapon. Yet you lost. Why? What did you have in that first fight that you lacked today?"

Matt stood up but produced no response. Nobu decided to answer on Matt's behalf. "The will to act. A purpose. I held a gun against your head when we first fought but you decided to kick it aside and retreat. You were willing to fight another day even when you were beaten but today you welcomed death with open arms.

"I wonder. Are you acting as a vigilante to save innocents _or_ is it a way to find an honourable death?"

Once again Matt had no answer. Nobu shook his head, disappointed. "Find out why you're truly fighting. Or you'll never be able to defeat me or Shiva."

Nobu leapt off the building and Matt stood on the cold rooftop with so many thoughts running through his head. _What am I fighting for? I want to help people._

 _Help people? You couldn't even help Elektra._

Matt removed the hot piece of metal from his eyebrow and applied what little healing gel he had left on the wound. Whatever it was they did that brought Elektra back to life changed her. She was stronger and faster than before and seemed to have some mystical enhancements.

But the worst part was that she couldn't recognise Matt. That realisation hurt Matt more than any of his wounds. After all, they had been through. After all that they had done together, she couldn't even remember who he was.

 _What did they do to her? How is she alive?_

Matt picked up his broken blade. The heat had left it and it was now cold and useless. He recalled Shiva's threat and Elektra's complete disregard for his existence.

 _How can I help other people if I can't even save the people I love?_

* * *

"You let the boy live?" Shiva asked, leaning back into her chair.

Nobu stood tall with his arms behind his back. He disobeyed direct orders and he would be willing to pay the price. "Yes," he said plainly.

Taking out the Bertinelli's and their allies in the police force was instrumental in her plans. Nobu's mercy was unexpected. "Why?" she asked.

"There is no honour in killing a _man_ such as him when he is not at his best," Nobu responded.

Shiva chuckled, "Don't tell me you've grown to care for the boy? May I remind you that he is the reason your nephew has been imprisoned? You could have at least crippled him permanently."

"Sendo was weak. His time incarcerated will make him stronger," Nobu said.

Shiva slowly got up from her chair and walked up towards Nobu. The Japanese assassin resisted the urge to flinch as she looked directly into his eyes. "I found you in Okinawa. Drunk and ready to give up on life. I brought you in because I saw something within you. You weren't a bloodthirsty monster like the others.

"You knew when to show restraint if it served our purpose in the long term and that is why I kept you at my side for all these years. But letting the boy live has no benefit, other than to satiate your need to have an honourable fight."

Nobu looked back into Shiva's eyes and extended his right hand. "I surrender myself to you for my failure."

Shiva walked him towards a table and placed his hand on it. She pulled out a knife and slammed it onto the tip of his little finger, completely cutting it off with surgical precision. Nobu bit his lip to suppress a scream and wrapped his hand up to stop the bleeding.

They exchange no words as Nobu left the room. His dishonour was now apparent to anyone who looked at his hand. He passed by Elektra who noticed his injury. _My target is still alive,_ she thought. There was no other reason for her sister to punish Nobu like that.

Elektra entered Shiva's quarters. "I hope I am not intruding."

Shiva gave her a light smile, "It's nothing. Sit." Elektra took a chair and sat down next to her sister. Her eyes move around, as she tried to think of a way to talk to Shiva. "Is something wrong?" Shiva asked.

"Who was that I fought earlier tonight?" Elektra asked.

"An enemy of the Hand. He's been interfering with our operations for some time now."

"But..."

"But?"

"He felt somewhat familiar. Like I knew him somehow."

Shiva put her hand on Elektra's shoulder. "Those feelings belong in the past sister. Focus on developing the power inside of you. The power Trigon bestowed upon you. Focus on your own strength and not on the weak men you are meant to kill."

Elektra looked at Shiva with a determined expression. "I apologize for speaking out of turn." She got up and left the room. She had to focus on whatever was burning inside of her. Trigon's return depended on it.

But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get the image of that boy out of her head. The way he called her by that name, _Elektra_. Was that what she was called before? Why did he call out for her after she tried to kill him?

What was his name?

Elektra pondered on these questions, determined to find some answers. It might make killing him more interesting.

* * *

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, November 12th 2010:**

Matt drove the shovel into the grass and grunted as he lifted the soil out from under him. He had been digging for over twenty minutes and was far too exhausted from his efforts of the night to dig any faster. Matt stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He felt the soil below and determined that he had three inches of soil to get through before he would reach his target.

He grunted and started to dig again. His arms were about to fall off of his body but that did not matter. He needed to know the truth. Matt took a few more scoops of soil out and stopped after his shovel hit something solid.

Matt could feel the structure of what he hit based on the reverberations that went through the object. "Found it."

He put his hand on the coffin and pulled out a crowbar from his duffel bag. Matt made the sign of the cross and knelt down. "Forgive me for this father," he said quietly before wedging the crowbar into the coffin. Matt pulled on the hardwood with all his strength till the wood gave in and broke apart, opening the lid of the coffin.

Matt pushed it away and put his hand inside the coffin to feel for its contents. Matt drove his fist through the floor of the coffin and kicked his shovel away in a rage.

The coffin was empty. Elektra's coffin was empty. His hands went to his head and a sickening feeling entered his stomach. His pain morphed into a burst of unsettling laughter as he sat down in the dirt. "She's alive! She's actually alive!"

Matt had no idea what to feel. He was happy because she was alive but at the same time, he felt unbelievable anger towards himself. Shiva said that he was the reason for Elektra's death and a small part of him agreed.

 _What if I killed Bullseye before that night? How many lives would that have saved? It definitely would have saved hers,_ Matt thought.

He went through all the villains he faced over the past year and a half and recollected all the people those villains hurt because he refused to kill them. Matt then remembered the night that Elektra died and how light she felt in his arms.

Matt smiled when something Elektra had told him popped into his mind. 'Just for the record Matthew. I think that your no killing policy, whilst unrealistic is quite noble. God only knows the world needs more people like you.'

 _Nobu said that I don't know what I'm fighting for. Maybe he's right. But I know one thing for sure. I will fight for her. I'll save her from the Hand even if it kills me._

* * *

 **Guess whos back!**

 **Well, if you read the chapter you know who's back but wow. This was interesting to write. I never understood the appeal of resurrecting characters but Elektra is famous for her resurrection and is an integral part of her character. Also, she's one of the few characters whose death actually affected them in the long run after they came back.**

 **So I hope that her return was done well on my part. Let me know if you have any comments or feedback.**

 **Now on to the comments that I can't respond to via PM:**

 **TheKike:**

 **RETURN !, or it is almost good to see that Matt is already overcoming everything that happened, a quiet chapter that is not like the last ones who depressed, who is a mysterious murderer? I have an idea of who he is, but I don't want to spoil, those monologues that Matt does are the same ones that Peter Parker's usually do, that Stilman didn't expect to continue like this. Ps, will the Defenders appear perhaps in the second season?**

 **Me: Hey man, thanks for the review. I'm sure you were 100% accurate on who the mysterious murderer was. Well Matt is a teenager in this story and all I did was complain that age if I was in a place that I didn't want to be in so I guess it makes since that he sounded like Spiderman in that portion of the story.**

 **With regards to the Defenders, it honestly depends if I even do season 2. So I'm not promising anything.**

 **Saltface:**

 **Something about the birth of life to help Matt ease the pain of the loss of another is really poetic in my head.**

 **This chapter has just been some the most heart-warming despite the situations. From Matt's help to rehabilatate Tomek to him in a blizzard helping someone in childbirth. And I personally liked the way that Stilt-Man isn't just some villain of the week for no reason. As a charcter mostly seen as a joke in comics, it's nice to see the man with stilts being more human than other villains. Especially his willingness to help Daredevil, assuring Kevin, and even the high-five him and Matt did at the end.**

 **It all just works perfectly and that's just the thing with your story, it just works. You fit the puzzle pieces correctly it's honestly impressive. Though I do wish we could read a chapter about Matt and the team just casually hanging out somewhere. I noticed there weren't much moments that were long enough to fully solidify what they get up to when the masks are off, y'know? Or at least something that deviated from the show that just has them hanging out with each other. That would be something interesting to read because I honestly want to see more of Matt's interactions with the team when he's not a leader.**

 **But the story should be left to you to write and us to read without being backseat writers. All in all, I hope Matt can finally get his shit together now and decide what to do next.**

 **Me:**

 **Thanks for the review man. I appreciate it . One of the great things about street level heroes is that they can help people deal with what are small, personal issues and it would not feel out of place. Daredevil is basically the most well known street level hero besides Batman so it makes sense for him to do good in these small but meaningful ways.**

 **With Stilt-Man I got the idea from the Ultimate comics version of the shocker. A smart guy who pissed off the wrong guy at work in a massive company. I just made sure that Wilbur wasn't a complete jerk like shocker was. A lot of villains, especially Marvel ones are just people trying to get by in life and resort to crime since they can't do anything else.**

 **Matt will interact with the Team but he was never truly close with any of them except for Robin. True, he'd trust them to watch his back during missions and would go to their aid if they ever needed it but they aren't his bff's or whatever. Still, you might get a bit of what you want next chapter.**

 **Also Matt will get his shit together soon. Kind of.**

 **That's it for tonight. I am exhausted. All the reviews, follows and favourites really help out guys. It's humbling to know that so many people like this story.**

 **I'll see you all later. Bye.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Agendas:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, 28th November 2010:**

When most people want to take some time off from the real world to contemplate their life and the meaning of existence they usually choose a peaceful area where one can think clearly. A park, a lake, maybe the house of a loving friend or relative. Somewhere you felt safe. But Matt wasn't like most people. He was a Murdock. And Murdocks always felt calm and safe in the middle of a boxing ring while getting their head smashed in a few times.

"Keep your guard up kid," Mark said as he hit Matt in the chin again. Matt shook his head and smirked, slamming his gloves together.

"You're one to talk, that was your first clean hit in two rounds."

"I'm not even trying man. But you're drenched in sweat. Want me to turn it down a notch?" Mark asked facetiously, moving his head to the side to dodge a wild swing thrown by Matt.

Matt moved around the ring in a clockwise motion to try and throw Mark off with his speed but all Mark had to do was turn on the spot to keep Matt in his line of sight, meaning he didn't have to use as much energy. When Matt stepped in to throw a punch, Mark shot out a quick jab to Matt's face making him stagger backwards. Matt grabbed onto the ropes to keep his balance.

"I'm way faster than you. How the hell are you doing that?" Matt asked, adjusting his mouthguard.

Mark shrugged. "Doesn't matter how fast you are if your opponent knows what you're gonna do," he said. "That's probably why that Nobu guy beat you."

"Rather not talk about that," Matt said feeling salty. He moved towards Mark and jumped high in the air and landed right behind his foster brother. Mark sighed and ducked, making Matt miss a punch. He turned around and dug his fist into Matt's side, hitting his liver.

Matt grabbed the right side of his body and fell on the floor, spitting out his mouth guard as he landed. Mark called in a time out and helped his little brother up. "Told you. Predictable. Besides, Nobu ain't the only thing we have to talk about."

"Do we have to?" Matt asked as he took a sip of water and poured some over his head to cool him down.

"I think we do. You come home a couple of weeks ago covered in dirt and say that you dug up your dead girlfriends grave. Except that she ain't dead and that the Hand brought her back to life somehow and you've been running around the city trying to find them," Mark said with a serious tone. "But you've found nothing. Two weeks of digging and you got nothing to show for it. Maybe it's time you consider getting some outside help."

Matt knew where his brother was going and was having none of it. "I'm not getting the Team involved in this. This is my city," he said.

"Your city my ass. It's not like you own the place. Those hero guys live for shit like this. Why not get them involved?" Mark asked incredulously.

Matt took off his gloves and threw them out of the ring, making them land right into his duffel bag. "I couldn't take it."

"Take what? Your friends helping out?"

"I couldn't take it if I got one of them _killed_ like I did with Elektra," Matt said with a strained voice. Mark rubbed his arm and felt like he should say something brotherly to Matt.

"That wasn't your fault bro. She knew what she was getting herself into."

Matt got out of the ring and walked next to a heavy bag. He heard it sway back and forth on a creaking chain and placed his hand on it. "Shiva told me that I made El weaker. That if it weren't for me she'd still be alive."

Mark got out of the ring and stood behind Matt. "She's just messing with you. Trying to get inside your head. Those fools had Bullseye on a leash and let him go. It was their fault. Not yours."

"I wish I could believe that," he said, feeling almost exhausted by recalling his recent encounter with Elektra. "But I guess that doesn't matter if I can get El away from them," Matt said wistfully.

"She killed eighteen people that night. Two of them were cops. Guys dad probably used to work with. Hell, she stabbed you man. Twice," Mark said strongly. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. What Matt needed right now was an understanding brother, not a lecture. "I get that you two were close. If Claire died and came back I'd want her to come back to me too. But Elektra didn't even recognise you. What if all that's left is the killer and the girl you loved is still dead?"

Matt frowned, he wouldn't even consider that notion. She was still the girl he knew. The girl he fell in love with. He could feel it in his bones. "I'll let you know when I figure out where their base is," Matt said, dodging the question.

Mark rolled his eyes. "You'd be a decent boxer if you avoided punches like you did questions," he said.

"Please. I'd whoop your ass in a real fight," Matt said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Didn't I knock you out when we went all out last time?" Mark asked, tapping his chin.

Matt pointed a finger at the African American, "Hey, I wasn't ready for that fight."

"Dude, you were wearing your Devil armour. How much more ready can you get?" Mark asked with a laugh.

Matt ignored him and waved Mark goodbye as he left the gym. "Good luck with that world title match bro," he said as he exited the door. Mark sat on a chair and cupped his face in his hands.

 _I'm the one who's meant to take care of you. But what the hell do I say? The dead coming back to life and messing with the living is just plain crazy. Unnatural,_ Mark thought.

 _Just don't let the kid suffer any more God. I don't think he could take it._

* * *

It was only five in the morning so there wasn't any danger of anyone seeing Matt walk without his cane. The young man could feel the heat from the smattering of rays of the rising sun cover his face. Matt smiled, remembering the time the sun gently woke him up the morning after the first night he spent with Elektra.

What a night that was.

Matt could still hear the melodic chanting of the birds rising up that morning. Even small details like the smell of her hair were still fresh in his mind. The feeling of the silk sheets against his skin, complemented by the warmth of her body. He remembered it all fondly.

But she felt so cold on the night he fought Elektra. The way she moved, spoke and behaved was all so machine-like, so calculated and there was no trace of the girl who used to argue with him about the validity of popcorn as a snack at the movies. He could feel his heart sink when he recalled the vacant sound of her voice when he called out her name.

Matt traced his finger over the fresh scar that Elektra gave him over two weeks ago. _This wasn't lethal. She wouldn't have let me live unless she remembered something. Right?_ Matt thought wishfully.

His lamentations ended however when he felt an aching in his body. He started to rub his side, feeling the onset of a large bruise forming from where Mark punched him. A few months ago he could take ten hits like this and virtually shrug it off. But ever since he came back he found the vigilante work to be far more tiring than before.

Nobu's words rang inside Matt's head. _Am I doing this to save people or am I just looking for a way to die? Since when was dying for the innocent a bad thing?_ Matt thought.

There were dozens of times Matt wanted to give up on the job. So many times were dying would have been preferable to standing up and raising his fists. But that never stopped him. Ninjas, gangsters, robots and super-powered villains all tried to keep him down but Matt never stayed there.

He was a Murdock. They were too stubborn to quit.

But that night with the Hand when he fought Elektra and then Nobu, he could barely stay upright. Matt's fists trembled when he remembered how tired he was that night.

It was embarrassing.

Plus he lacked the usual buzz he used to get during a fight. Before he used to feel alert, energetic and alive whenever he got into a fight. But now it just felt like he was going through the motions. There was no rush, no sense of urgency when he fought.

His body was in perfect condition. If anything he was slightly stronger than before he retired. Whatever problem he had must have been in his mind. But what the hell was the issue? Matt could not tell. He slapped his forehead and reminded himself of the task at hand.

 _It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as I save Elektra and stop the Hand. Which I'll do as soon as I figure out where she's hidden._

Matt suddenly grabbed his head in pain as a high pitched whine pierced his ears. A vaguely familiar voice started to speak in his ears on an audio frequency too high for anyone else to hear.

" _Superboy,"_ the arrogant voice said in his ears.

 _No one else except Connor,_ Matt thought. A split second later Matt recognised the pompous, intellectual voice. _Luthor,_ he thought angrily.

Matt heard Luthor rattle on about Superman being off-world and him wanting to meet Superboy at a specific location at Washington DC. Matt was sure Connor would go meet Luthor alone and that did not sit well with him.

 _I'm not sure if I should be happy he doesn't know about my abilities or insulted._ Matt thought. _Why does he even want to meet Connor?_

Matt opened his bag and rummaged through his stuff. He realised that he was missing a few items and ran straight home. He was not going to let Connor interact with Luthor on his own.

He would help his friends no matter what. But he needed to get a few things first.

* * *

 **Washington DC, November 28th 2010:**

When Superboy landed in DC with Wolf on the Supercycle he was not sure what to expect. He never really dealt with Lex Luthor before and only heard stories from his father. Most of them ending with the Man of Steel ranting about Lex's uncanny ability to leave no evidence to trace back to his crimes. Which always left him curious since it took a lot to make Superman mad.

He expected to see armed guards, maybe some drones but he never in a million years expected to see Matt a few feet away from the landing site. Connor leapt off of the cycle with a loud thud and Wolf landed beside him, lifting his black nose up to sniff the air.

"What are you doing here?" Connor asked with his arms crossed.

"I could ask you the same thing," Matt said, mimicking Connor's gesture.

Connor studied Matt's black suit and was not impressed. He figured that with the exception of the utility belt someone could buy the stuff Matt was wearing for a few bucks on Amazon. He scanned the contents of Matt's belt with his enhanced vision but was puzzled to find a compartment that was lined with lead, which he could not see through.

"What's with the lead lining?"

Matt tapped that compartment of his belt. "Insurance," Matt said cryptically. "Come on. Luthor's a hundred feet that way."

Connor scowled as Matt walked towards Luthor's location. The fact that he completely forgot that Matt's hearing was far better than his irritated him.

The two teenagers walk towards a white limo. Matt could perceive plenty of radio waves entering and exiting the vehicle. Signals that no doubt were providing Luthor with some sort of information or means of communication inside of his armoured limo.

Matt listened to Luthor's female security guard opening the limo door. He drowned out the sound of her cybernetic arm to focus on Luthor's heartbeat which was unnaturally steady. Even members of the League of Shadows and the Hand didn't have a heartbeat like that.

Luthor stood up straight and towered over the boys by a few inches. He saw Daredevil and gave him a curious glance as if he was noting down something in his brain.

"Superboy and Daredevil, I presume. I am Lex Luthor the new Chairman of the board for project Cadmus," he said with a formal tone, extending his arm out to shake Connor's hand. The clone refused, keeping his arms crossed over his chest. Luthor pulled his arm back and Connor engaged with the businessman.

"Yeah, I know who you are Luthor and I want nothing to do with you or Cadmus," Connor said. He turned his back on Luthor and started to make his way towards the Supercycle until Luthor spoke up.

"Cadmus has created another Super clone," Luthor said with urgency. That statement caught Connor's attention immediately.

Matt heard Luthor's heartbeat. It was steady and his body language, rate of breath and perspiration indicated that he was telling the truth. Superboy turned around towards Cadmus' direction but Matt put his hand on his shoulder and stopped him from taking off. "If you're Chairman couldn't you do something about it yourself Lex? Why get Superboy involved?"

Luthor looked at Matt curiously. His presence was making his plan to manipulate Superboy slightly more difficult than it should have been. "Despite our best efforts, there is much about project Cadmus that we don't know about. The Genomorphs understand Cadmus better than any of us but they are still wary of outsiders. Superboy is our best bet at fishing out the truth," Luthor said with a charming smile.

Once again Luthor's bodily functions indicated he was telling the truth, he wasn't even trying to hide his heartbeat. But Matt felt that he was leaving out some crucial piece of information. "How'd you know about the other Super clone then?" Matt asked simply, placing his hands on his hips.

"I have my sources," Luthor said.

"It doesn't matter. If there is another clone I'll free him just like you and the others freed me," Connor told Matt, angrily cupping his hands together. He walked away towards the Supercycle and Matt gave Luthor a suspicious 'look' before following Connor.

* * *

The ride to Cadmus was only a few minutes but the awkwardness between Connor and Matt made it feel like a few hours. Neither boy was sure if they needed to say something to the other. Matt tapped his fingers against the side of the cycle and ignored the smell of dog food and half-digested squirrel from Wolf's breath.

"So," Matt started. "Did you even check to see of Luthor was telling the truth?" Matt asked.

"I can't hear heartbeats the same way as you. They all sound the same to me," Connor said.

"That's not what I asked."

Connor didn't respond. "Don't know why _you_ care."

"What does that mean?"

"You ditched the Team and wanted to be a civie. You didn't have to come here."

"I didn't ditch anyone. I quit."

Connor scoffed at that. "Yeah, for all of two minutes. Why didn't you come back to the Team?"

Matt could hear a hint of sadness in Connor's voice. "Connor… "

"Save it. We're here," Connor said bitterly. He parked the cycle to the top of Cadmus' building and got off. Matt and Wolf followed after him. Matt never pegged Connor to be the clingy type but it made sense, he'd still be angry. He had known Matt his entire life and he left the Team without saying a word. That would piss off anyone.

Matt heard half a dozen security guards with assault rifles walk up the stairs towards the roof. "Good cop or bad cop?" Matt asked.

"Bad Cop," Connor said with a frown as the armed guards reached the roof and surrounded the teenagers.

Matt noticed the security camera on the roof swivel towards them. "Guardian. Tell your men to stand down."

"Or I'll do it for them," Connor said balling his fists.

They hear the static from the guard's earpieces and a few moments later they lowered their weapons. Matt and Connor walked down the stairs with Wolf trailing behind them. "You do realise he would have let us in from the front door right?" Matt asked facetiously.

Connor shrugged and walked down a bit faster. He had more pressing issues to worry about.

As they came closer to the main offices of Cadmus Matt and Connor overheard a conversation between Guardian and Doublex. Something about Genomorphs going missing. Connor stormed in demanding to know about the new Super clone.

While Superboy was engrossed by his conversations with Guardian and Doublex Matt was analysing his surroundings while he walked behind the others, pretending to listen to Guardian as he talked about the new policies at Cadmus. Matt nodded blankly in agreement while he was tapping his foot repeatedly with varying tempos.

He could feel the Genomorphs on the current floor walking around, buzzing and clicking - probably communicating to each other - and could tell that Connor and Doublex were having a telepathic conversation with each other based on their body language. Matt concentrated further and felt vibrations reverberating through a series of warm tunnels.

Matt took off his gloves and placed his hands on the floor. The tunnels were recently formed, probably dug out by the larger Genomorphs. He could feel hundreds of them walking around within these tunnels freely, without any humans nearby.

"Connor," Matt whispered. "I go a lead on the missing Genomorphs. Artificial tunnels a dozen feet under the floor where we found you. What did Doublex tell you?"

"He said that he'd have the Genomorphs ask around for the other clone. Guardian says that I'm the only one that he knows about but…"

Connor and Matt turned their heads to face a camera that was zooming in on them, the sound of the lens buzzed in their ears. Matt concentrated and could perceive radio waves of a similar frequency to the ones he felt near Luthor's car being transmitted from the cameras.

"Luthor's a pain," Connor said after Matt told him about the radio waves.

"Preach to the choir. You check out your old pod, I remember feeling a draft there when we found you. Probably an old door or passageway. I'll investigate the tunnels. Meet back near the elevator in an hour," Matt ordered, walking into the elevator.

Connor puffed his chest and followed him in. He didn't like taking orders from Matt anymore but he didn't exactly have a better plan. The two boys stand awkwardly in the elevator, once again, struggling to make idle conversation.

"How's M'gann?"

"Good."

"That's uh… good. How you finding school?"

"Boring."

"Cool. Cool. Ok. Pretty sure this is your floor," Matt blabbered out as the elevator stopped. Wolf exited first and Connor followed him. The young Kryptonian didn't even bother to look back at Matt as he gazed upon the place of his birth and subsequent rescue.

Matt heard Connors footsteps go further into the corridors of Cadmus as he went down even further in the elevator. He rubbed his bruised side and stifled a groan.

 _Wonder how long I can keep this up._ He thought. _Nobu beat me twice. Shiva beat me with one hand. Even Elektra beat me. I can barely beat Bullseye and Davos plus Quake and Psylocke are at least on Chesire's level. No way I can beat them all at once._

The elevator stopped and Matt stepped out of it. He placed his hand against the wall and felt the reverberations. After detecting hollow openings in the walls he marched inside the narrowest one, which was wide enough to let him run away if things went bad but not so wide that Genomorphs could outflank him by climbing the walls. _A few hundred footsteps. How'd they get this many Genomorphs down here without anyone noticing?_

Matt could feel a buzzing sensation in his head and heard a few G-Gnomes scampering around the tunnel. _Little bastards are probably warning the others telepathically. Wonder how their gonna react to a human discovering their secret base._ Matt exited the tunnel and entered a giant cavern, with organic lighting and hundreds of Genomorphs walking around freely.

Two large gorilla-like Genomorphs lumbered in front of Matt and snarled at him in a menacing fashion. Matt raised his hands in the air and said, "I'm the guy who knocked out Doctor Desomd a few months ago. I'm on your side." The two Genomorphs bared their fangs and Matt was ready to run back into the tunnel till he heard a voice in his head.

 _Fear, not Daredevil. They will not harm you,_ Doublex said telepathically.

The Genomorphs backed away from Matt and Doublex stepped towards the young hero. Matt crossed his arms and gave Doublex a curious look beneath his mask, which he was sure the Devil like Genomorph could perceive somehow.

"So is this like a refugee camp for Genomorphs? You planning on sending these guys past the border?" Matt asked sarcastically.

"How did you discover our place of refuge?"

Matt ignored his question. "What was the plan? Hide these guys from the human staff and wait for them to forget? They're looking for the missing Genomorphs, they would have found this place anyways," Matt said, gesturing towards the entire cave.

A loud bang entered Matt's ears followed by the sound of Superboy screaming. Matt sprinted back into the tunnel and ignored the pain in his side. He pressed the button to the elevator but heard a fast object rushing towards the elevator on the floor above. Matt heard the sound of metal being bent by force and leapt to the side, narrowly dodging being crushed by the elevator doors himself.

Matt stood up and heard the heartbeat of the being that almost killed him. It was very strong and fast and resembled one he was very familiar with. "Connor?" Matt asked.

The clone screamed at Matt and rushed towards him. Matt stepped out of the way but was knocked over by a strong gust of wind. _Connor's not nearly that fast, guess I found the clone then._

Matt got up and ducked underneath a wild punch thrown by the clone. Matt tried to sweep its leg but the clone leapt into the air and stayed suspended there much to Matt's confusion. Matt couldn't ponder the reason why the clone could fly since he felt a large amount of heat being concentrated in the clones eyes.

Two narrow laser beams shot their way out of the clones eyes and Matt flipped to his left to avoid them. The clone kept firing and Matt kept dodging, which was hard since he had to predict the attacks based on eye movement.

Matt stepped on a piece of broken metal and he slipped and lost his balance allowing the clone's heat vision to slightly singe his leg. Matt fell down and grabbed his injury, he then rolled out of the way of the clone, which landed where his head used to be. The landing created a large crater which generated a shockwave that sent Matt flying into a wall.

Blood spewed from Matt's mouth as the clone slowly hovered towards him, it's eyes drenched in red light. Matt didn't even bother trying to get up again. He knew that he wouldn't. Matt groaned as he reached down for the lead compartment of his belt, his fingers slipped a few times thanks to the blood he coughed up.

The clone ripped the black cloth of his face and grabbed Matt by the collar and readied his heat vision, aiming straight between Matt's eyes. Matt dropped something at the clones feet which bathed it in bright green light. The red from the clones eyes faded and he grasped his chest, unable to draw breath. Matt heard the clone's heart start going into overdrive as it tried to deliver oxygen to its brain. He knew that it would lose consciousness in a few seconds.

Matt felt the radiation from the kryptonite heating his skin. "Knew that would come in handy," he said weekly. He felt for any muscle tears or fractures but found nothing. "Fell on my ass from a small burn and a shockwave. Life was so much easier when I could shrug this shit off," he muttered as he slid himself up against the wall to stand.

He checked to see if the clone was completely knocked out. Considering that Matt met coma patients that had healthier heart rates it was safe to assume it was unconscious.

"Doublex!" Matt shouted. "Get this thing tied up and under some mind control. I'll inform Guardian and check on Superboy and Wolf."

Matt pocketed his Kryptonite and started to limp towards the stairs but then he heard a voice in his head. _Guardian is an honourable man but he does not understand…_

 _Understand what? That you don't trust him to speak openly about your problems? That you you're telepathic? That you had a monster like that hidden here this entire time?_

 _I had no clue that another Superclone existed in this facility._

Matt had limped halfway up the stairs before he listened to Doublex's heartbeat. Surprisingly he was telling the truth. _I'm telling him. Unless you're gonna try and stop me._

Doublex did not respond.

Matt scoffed. _Thought so._

He took a few moments to catch his breath after he finished climbing the stairs and hobbled towards Connor's unconscious body. Matt detected major internal bleeding from Connor's organs but his skin wasn't pierced so even if there was a surgeon who knew about Kryptonian physiology it would have been impossible to operate on him without using kryptonite to break the skin.

Matt placed Connor's head on his lap and waited for Guardian and his crew to reach his location. He didn't contact him but a small seismic event caused by two Kryptonians brawling would catch anyone's attention. But something about the clone felt off to Matt.

It was much faster than Connor. His skin was heavier and denser too. Plus he was strong enough to incapacitate Connor without injuring himself in the fight and had an odd heartbeat. Much closer to Superman's.

Matt tore a piece off of his sleeve and tied it around his face, it didn't do much to hide his hair but his eyes would be covered. Guardian and a few guards eventually reached Matt and the older hero was shocked by what he found.

* * *

 **Watch Tower, 28th November 2010:**

Batman cupped his hands and brought them to his chin. The League had spent the past few hours tirelessly debating about who they should bring into their ranks. The process was painstaking and many members butted heads over the validity of their nominations with some arguments turning personal.

Luckily for Bruce, most the League - barring Captain Marvel - were level headed adults and could look past petty squabbles. Many adult heroes were up for consideration but so were most of the former sidekicks. Aqualad, Robin, Red Arrow and Kid Flash were nominated by various heroes but there was one that Bruce knew would be up for discussion very soon.

"And last but not least, I nominate Daredevil," Superman said cheerfully. A holographic display of Matt in his red armour showed up in front of the League.

"Thought he retired," Hal Jordon said.

Green Arrow smirked, "We've all 'retired' at some point. The kid went through a lot but he bounced back."

"A good number of us saw what he's capable of during the Amazo incident. People listen to him, he commands respect, he's quick on his feet and can give orders clearly and concisely. I'd say he's more qualified than some of the adults we've talked about," Flash said, pulling up footage from that attack.

Wonder Woman piped in, "Daredevil has a tendency to use excessive force on criminals. It wouldn't be in the League's best interest to recruit someone so violent."

"You do realise that Batman's a part of this team, right?" Captain Marvel asked rhetorically. Everyone looked at Billy, expecting him to make a more substantial point. "What? He's scary too."

"Batman," Black Canary said with a friendly smile. "You've been uncharacteristically silent this whole time. Which is odd since you're the one who's closest to him."

The hero's look at Batman expectantly. Bruce squinted and the whites in his cowl narrowed.

"All of us are here because we faced trauma. And we use that trauma to fuel us, to give us the drive to fight the good fight." Bruce got up from his seat and laid his hands on the table. "Very few of us have lost as much as Daredevil. And even fewer had to deal with that at such a young age. If anyone had the right to become a villain it's him.

"But he didn't. He chose to use his pain and become a hero, despite the personal cost. He gains nothing from this life except the satisfaction he gets from helping others. He's emotional, young and at times sloppy but if anyone is worthy to join our ranks, it's him."

With his speech over Bruce took his seat and cupped his hands again. The room was silent as he did so. It wasn't often that Batman gave someone a glowing review.

Superman cleared his throat. He knew that Bruce had something else on his mind but now wasn't the time to talk. "If we're not putting up any other nominations then I would like to raise a motion to start the voting process."

The other heroes agreed to start voting after a brief coffee break, which gave Clark the opportunity to talk to Bruce who was gazing out into the starry abyss of space. "Your heartbeat tapered a bit when you were talking about him."

Bruce turned to face the window, overlooking the planet Earth. "Can't seem to hide anything from you," he said stoically.

"Well, I figured the bullet hole in your chest probably had something to do with that but hey, it's just a bullet. That wouldn't shake Batman," Clark said facetiously, looking at his friend.

A small smile slithered briefly across Bruce's face. "Lantern's right. He quit."

"For a month. Like you said, he's suffered more than most people."

"The crime rate hasn't lowered much in Hell's Kitchen and Midtown since his return. He's losing his touch."

Clark sighed. "Then why did you vouch for him?"

Bruce turned away and walked back to the meeting room without answering the question. Clark saw Bruce through the reflection in the glass and closed his eyes.

He would never understand that man.

* * *

"I don't understand," Guardian said. Doublex shook his head and spoke again.

"We appreciate all that you have done for our brothers. But we can no longer live as servants. Having names and jobs merely mimic what it is like to have a life of our own. We wanted more."

Matt rested the back of his head against Superboy's new pod while a doctor was patching him up. He refused pain medication to make sure that he was aware enough to see whether or not the doctor would try and get a DNA sample from him. The last thing he needed was a bunch of Daredevil clones running around.

"Ouch! You suck at this," Matt said as the doctor nicked his skin. "Seriously, you're trying to stitch up a burn. Who does that? You didn't even give me an antiseptic or antibiotic."

"I'm not that kind of doctor," she said glibly.

Matt was about to make a snide comment about how he knew a nurse in her twenties who could do a better job but refrained from doing so after hearing a spike in Connor's heart rate. The clone burst out of his pod and let out an angry snarl.

Connor grabbed Guardian by the collar and lifted him into the air. The guards trained their weapons at the Kryptonian but Matt stepped in front of them.

"Don't waste your bullets boys. Drop him Supes," Matt said, trepidatiously placing his hand on Connor's shoulder.

"Why was I in that pod?" Connor spat out.

The doctor stepped in, "We needed to put you in there to saturate your cells with solar radiation. We were healing you."

Connor looked down and saw that he was hearing his white solar suit and dropped Guardian. He glared at Matt, "You let them do this?"

Matt raised his hands in the air, "You could have died. The clone beat you half to death."

"Wait. Where is he?" Connor asked in alarm.

"I took care of him," Matt said.

Connor blinked. "You?"

Matt tightened his bandages and winced before replying, "Yeah."

"Seriously. You?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, how?"

Matt tilted his head and grinned. "I'm not telling how."

"We have him restrained underground. Apparently," Guardian said, looking at Doublex.

Superboy looked at Guardian with rage, "You have to let him go."

"He's unstable. We let him free and he could tear the whole place down," Matt said.

"Who's side are you on? He deserves to be free!"

"Not after what he did. If he weren't another clone you wouldn't be so quick to get him out of trouble."

Connor stared Matt down but decided not to speak. Arguing with him would go nowhere.

"You mind giving us a minute?" Matt asks after a few moments of silence. The adults left the room quickly, mainly to check on Doublex's Genomorph camp.

After they all left Superboy stared blankly at Matt. He could see that he was injured but there was no way he beat the clone in a straight fight. Connor glanced at the blood-stained lead compartment of Matt's belt.

"Do I even want to know what's in that thing?"

"Probably not," Matt said, handing Connor his regular clothes. The clone stared at him but Matt shrugged, "Not like I can see you." Connor turned around and changed.

A display in the background started to blink and revealed the face of Lex Luthor. "I see that you encountered the clone," he stated. "I hope that you suffered no permanent damage."

Connor angrily marched towards the screen. "Like you care. Tell me about Project Match."

"Very little," Luthor responded. "I know more about you."

Matt and Connor wait as Luthor explained himself. Matt pretended to adjust his belt while he quickly pressed a button on one of the compartments.

"Kryptonian DNA is notoriously difficult for human science to read. When you were created, the gaps in the sequences were bridged with human DNA. Robbing you of your full Kryptonian powers. No flight, no heat vision, etcetera."

The information surprised Matt but shocked Connor to his core. "I-I'm. Part human." Now many things made sense to him. His lack of powers, him being weaker than Superman was when he was his biological age. It all fit.

"Yes. Obviously, your twin was created with pure Kryptonian DNA. The missing sequences have apparently left Match unstable.

"Insane. I'd advise you to get him back on ice as soon as possible," Lex said.

"Already taken care of," Matt said.

Luthor gave him a knowing look from the screen. "Seems unlikely."

At that very moment, the floor beneath the teenagers shook which was followed by a loud bang and angry screaming. Luthor looked at them smugly, "It seems Match has broken free. You'll need help to restrain him."

A panel opened up, revealing a rectangular compartment with Superman's 'S' emblazoned on it. "Consider this a gift. I call them 'shields'. Stick one on your arm and it will suppress your human DNA for about an hour. Allowing your Kryptonian powers to bloom.

"You'll be as powerful as Match.

"As Superman."

That last line almost pulled Connor in but his scepticism over Luthor made him question this 'gift'.

"I don't want anything from you."

Luthor smiled, "Keep them, anyway. You never know."

The display turned off and Connor considered Luthor's statement. He turned around to talk to Matt, "Wait. Couldn't you just..."

Connor looked around but found that Matt had disappeared. "Hate it when he does that."

* * *

Matt ducked under a third boulder thrown at him by Match. He planned on getting close to him and using the Kryptonite again before Connor was tempted to use his shields to fight Match himself. Problem was that Match knew that Matt had something that could easily beat him and was keeping his distance.

The clone shot lasers at him, flew away, threw rocks and even Genomorphs at him. Anything to keep Matt away. Match looked up and saw large stalactites protruding from the roof of the cave. He let out a burst of heat vision and vapourised a portion of the roof, allowing the large portions of sharp rock to fall down on Matt's location.

Matt curled into a ball since he knew he wasn't fast enough to dodge them. He heard the rocks crash down around him with a deafening noise but none of them crushed him. Matt heard Connor standing above him with belaboured breath as he held the weight of well over a hundred tonnes of rock on his back.

Connor heaved and threw the rocks towards Match who was crushed under the weight. The two teenagers could hear the clone quickly tunnelling out and Matt leapt up from his cover. Connor quickly grabbed him and yanked him back with force.

"Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?" Connor asked.

Matt felt uncomfortable by that question and brushed Connor's hand off his shoulder, "You can't beat him on your own."

"And neither can you!" Connor yelled out. Matt noticed that there was no temperature change on any part of Connor's skin, so he probably hadn't taken a shield yet.

"You used kryptonite, didn't you?" Connor asked.

Matt reluctantly nodded. "If you get exposed too long it could kill you."

"Then you better be quick."

Match burst out of his entombment and let out a piercing scream. Matt threw a smoke bomb at the clone and walked in front of Connor. "Maneuver seven," Matt commanded.

Connor nodded and kneeled down and held his hands out. Matt leapt on and Connor lifted him up in the air. Matt felt the wind rushing past his body, threatening to rip the cloth off of his face. Match used his enhanced vision to see past the smoke and saw Matt flying in the air.

He flew towards him at top speed, which made the cloud of smoke completely disappear from the force of his takeoff. Matt quickly removed the kryptonite from his belt making Match freeze in mid-air at the sight of that painful green glow.

Connor saw this as his queue. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and jumped up with all his strength, forming a small crater from where he stood. He cut through the air and grabbed a surprised Match and the two clones crash through the side of the cave, sending even more rock crashing down.

They break out and start exchanging punches. Connor felt his arms slowly giving in with each blow he blocked and a punch to his chest sent him flying back hundreds of feet. Matt used his Billy club to grapple to the ground.

He landed silently a mere ten feet behind Match. The clone felt his body being weakened by the kryptonite and he turned around, ready to vaporise Matt.

Connor rushed Match and put the clone into a chokehold and pushed him to the ground, using his legs to trap one of Match's free arms. "Do it now!" Connor yelled out, struggling to keep his brother restrained.

Matt nodded raised the kryptonite in the air and exposed both clones to the Kryptonite. Connor convulsed in agony and let go of Match who collapsed silently on the ground. Matt put the rock back in his belt and moved in to check on Connor while the other Genomorphs start telepathically paralysing Match.

Matt helped Connor to get up. The Half-Kryptonian was drenched in sweat and had an erratic heartbeat. "That hurt," he managed to say.

"Yeah. That's why I have it in a lead case."

"How long have you had that?" Connor asked.

"Since the Amazo attack. Not sure why I kept it to be honest but it came in handy."

Connor managed to stabilize himself. "Guess it did."

Matt took the shield box out of Connor pocket and rattled it for a few seconds. "Pretty sure there's a tracking device here."

Connor looked inside the case with his X-ray vision. "Yep," Connor said, before ripping it out of the back.

"Let's go meet baldy," Connor said while cracking his knuckles.

* * *

Guardian took Doublex away for questioning while Match was put back on ice. Matt and Connor were sure that Guardian would do his best to accommodate the Genomorphs wish for freedom in a practical manner since if they didn't Connor threatened to storm Cadmus himself.

They walked back to where the Supercycle was parked and weren't surprised to see Luthor standing there beside his limo and security guard.

"There was a tracker in that tin box you gave me!" Connor said angrily.

"Yes," Luthor stated.

"You're the one who initiated the cloning projects," Matt said with an accusatory tone.

"I wanted Superman to meet his match."

"Yeah, and you used me and Daredevil to find the missing Genomorphs."

"A good businessman has to keep track of his assets. But none of that is what really bothers you."

Connor nodded.

"Half your DNA is human. Haven't you wondered who the donor was? Or have you just been afraid to acknowledge the obvious?

"Face it, son. You have much more in common with me than Superman."

That statement made Connor's blood boil. "That's a lie! Superman's my father."

"Is that so. Tell me, how much time does he take out of his day to spend with you. Does he take you out like a normal teenager? Does he even involve you in his public life?"

Connor parted his lips to speak but he couldn't respond and he slowly looked down.

"And, why? Because Big-Boy-Blue lives in a world of black and white. You were created by the 'bad guys'. So there must be something wrong with you. But we both know life isn't that clear cut. The real world is full of greys," Lex said, turning towards Matt.

Matt pointed a finger at Luthor but the billionaire interrupted him before he could speak, "And _you_ come rushing in all the way from New York just to aid your friend, yet you can't even clean your own backyard. Tell me, how is the Hand doing these days?"

Matt balled his fist and tried to take a swing at an unflinching Luthor but Connor grabbed his hand and gently pulled Matt back. He took the shields out of his pocket and asked Luthor to take them back.

"They are a gift. From a father to his son."

Now Connor grabbed Lex by his tie, "I don't need them for this."

Luthor stood there calmly and said, "Red son."

Connor instantly froze in place like a statue. Matt felt Connor's internal mechanisms slow down significantly like he was put into a form of hibernation.

Luthor removed his tie and got himself out of Connor's grasp. "Shame, I received it as a gift from the president of Rwanda," Luthor said.

He told Mercy - his bodyguard - to start the engine but Matt wasn't done with him. "What did you -"

"Suspended animation. He'll wake in a few hours. But I must say, I'm surprised that you came here Daredevil. It seems I underestimated your abilities," Luthor said, adjusting his collar.

Matt walked up to Luthor, who raised a hand to tell Mercy to stand down. "I'll make sure you go to prison for this."

"What for?" Luthor asked coyly.

"Illegal cloning, indentured servitude and hell, Match probably counts as a weapon of mass destruction. When the public finds out about this, you're screwed," Matt said with a cocky smile.

Much to Matt's surprise, Luthor began to chuckle. "Forgive me, that was rude. But my dear boy, it doesn't matter what you know. It's what you can prove."

Matt had a blank look on his face, which made Luthor think that he had quelled any more debate. But Matt simply raised his hand, which contained a small device and he pressed a button.

'It's what you can prove,' the device played back.

Matt smirked as he heard a brief spike in Luthor's heartbeat. "Ooh. That sounds like proof to me. Plus, Superboy is pretty much a walking, living example of your cloning experiments and he has half your DNA. Couple that with the files Batman has about Cadmus and - correct me if I'm wrong - I think that's grounds for a trial."

Luthor gave Matt a curious look. "I assume you're willing to make a deal. Why else would you be so flagrant about your plans?"

"How much do you know about the Hand?" Matt asked with a quiet tone.

"And there lies the grey area. You're willing to make a deal with me to gain information about your enemy."

"How much do you know?" Matt repeated with a threatening tone.

"Far more than you evidently," Luthor said with his usual confidence. "Unfortunately for you, the digital files I have are far too large to be transferred wirelessly. I can have a hard drive sent over but it will take some time."

Matt crossed his arms, "Like you said. We have a few hours to kill before our rage monster wakes up. Better make it quick."

"Mercy. Make the necessary arrangements," Luthor commanded, staring Matt in the 'eye' behind his cloth-covered face.

Matt kept tabs on his surroundings, expecting a squad of Luthor's personal soldiers to come rushing in or weaponized drones or for Mercy to shoot a laser at him. But nothing of the sort came. The closest thing that disturbed Matt and Luthor's staring competition was a strong gust of wind.

Luthor noted down Matt's injuries and was somewhat impressed that he managed to survive Match's onslaught with relatively minor wounds. After what seemed like an eternity to Matt and a huge waste of time for Luthor a small drone flew in with a small box that Mercy removed from its case.

She handed it to Luthor who gave it to Matt. "You will find all that I know is in here. I'm sure it will serve you well," he said with faux sincerity.

Matt clasped Luthor by the wrist and pulled him in closer, making him flinch. "Nice doing business with you Lex," Matt said with a sadistic smile, clasping his hand firmly around Lex's wrist, making his hand and face red with pain.

To his credit; Luthor didn't show any outward signs of discomfort, pain or fear but Matt could detect all three in him. And that satisfied him to no end.

"Oh and have this," Matt said, throwing the recording device towards Lex. "I only recorded like two lines from you. I never got any of the stuff about you admitting anything."

Though he couldn't see Luthor's face, Matt knew that his expression was priceless.

Luthor gave Matt a slow round of applause and said, "Well played."

Matt removed a tracking device from the box and threw it away, "Really?" Matt asked.

"Always worth trying. Take care of yourself Daredevil," Luthor said, entering his limo.

The large vehicle drove away from Matt, whose legs were now shaking from absolute shock. "I just blackmailed Lex Luthor. How the hell did I do that?" Matt asked himself, unable to believe what he had just pulled off.

Luthor was telling the truth about the harddrive. He probably wanted the Hand out of the way since Elektra told him that they used to steal equipment from LexCorp on occasion.

Matt walked towards the Supercycle with a wide smile. "Alright, Connor let's go."

Connor didn't move, on account of still being in suspended animation.

Matt sighed, then he crossed his legs and began to meditate. He needed to do something to pass the time.

* * *

Connor came back to his senses but the clear blue sky was replaced by a dark, starry one and he was still holding on to Luthor's tie but Luthor himself was nowhere to be seen. "One word and he shut me down."

He turned around and saw Matt, meditating on the Supercycle. He noticed that Matt's wounds have healed a bit more and that he seemed far more relaxed than before.

Matt uncrossed his legs and got off.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. What happened with Luthor?"

"Long story," Matt said cryptically.

Connor rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Look, M'gann and Zatanna are making Thanksgiving dinner and Superman's busy with some foreign dignitaries so I can't eat with him. But I don't want to be the only guy in the Cave."

"I don't know. Maybe - "

"Nope. You're coming. M'gann loves cooking for you. She always tries to make her food 'Matt proof' since you taste every little thing from the other room," Connor said firmly.

Matt sighed. He didn't feel like he deserved a happy little dinner with his friends.

Connor saw the sad look on his face and carried him in the air like a prized pig. "Supercycle, set a course for the Cave."

"Wait I don't - "

"Yes, you do."

"I still have that kryptonite you know."

"Ok," Connor said, revving the Supercycle up completely unphased by Matt's empty threat.

Matt pouted and leaned back in his seat. "I guess a couple of hours won't kill anyone."

* * *

Matt quietly opened the window to his room and jumped inside. He could hear Clair and Mark sleeping in the other room and decided not to wake them. Matt couldn't help but lick his lips one more time. Zatanna and M'gann cooked too well for their own good.

Connor and Matt ended up fighting over the last piece of turkey, which ended up being gobbled up by Wolf which brought an end to that one sided conflict. Matt let out a loud burp and rubbed his belly. He would have to work out extra hard the next day to burn off all his calories.

He took off his mask and shirt and was about to leap into bed until he felt a presence in his room. It was tall, covered in gadgets and armour and was holding Matt's picture of him and Elektra that he keeps in his drawer.

"A few months ago you would have detected me in a few seconds," Batman said, putting the picture back to where it was.

"Rusty I guess," Matt said glibly. "Why are you here Bruce?"

Bruce got to the point, "Today the League convened and discussed the entry of new members and we have decided to offer you the chance to join us," Bruce said unceremoniously.

Matt took a few seconds to digest what he had just heard. "Huh?"

"Not the most dignified response but you don't have to choose now. The induction ceremony happens next month. You have till then to decide."

Matt waved his hand, "I'm grateful. For the offer I mean but I'm busy here in New York and I'm not sure I can manage the time."

"You managed well enough when you lead the Team. The League won't expect you to take on all your duties on your first day."

"Bruce. I - "

"You're not in the state of mind to make this decision now. But take it from me, you can only fight alone for so long. Dick taught me that," Bruce said, almost paternally.

"I _used_ to have someone," Matt said with a pained expression.

Bruce nodded. "I know. But you have to move on. She's not the girl you fell in love with anymore," Bruce said.

Matt wasn't even surprised that he knew about that, Bruce knew almost everything. "That's rich coming from you Bruce," Matt said, crossing his arms. "Like _you_ could ever move on."

"No. I can't. Doesn't mean that you have to make my mistakes."

Bruce opened Matt's window and climbed to the top of the building. Matt heard him glide away using his cape and he walked towards his drawer. He took out the picture of him and Elektra and placed it in front of his eyes. Trying desperately to see her face.

His hand trembled as he held the picture and he kicked his bed in anger, almost breaking off one of its legs. Matt yelped as he stubbed his toe and he sat on the bed, rubbing it down to relieve the pain.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Matt asked, running his hands through his hair.

The League wanted him to join their ranks. _Him_. A useless, blind kid who yells when he stubs his toe.

He removed the hard drive from his belt and inspected it.

"What the hell do I do if I find their HQ? Storm the place and pull El out of there?"

He wasn't even sure if Elektra even wanted to be saved. Her brainwashing could be permanent and she might never remember him.

The idea scared Matt to death and sent a shiver down his spine.

Matt pulled his blanket and wrapped it around him. He felt cold, hopeless and alone and no matter how warm his body felt, those feelings never faded.

How could he when he could still feel the weight of her dead body in his arms?

"I'm sorry," he said, holding back tears. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

 **Wow. I'm so happy I finished that.**

 **Sorry for posting it so late. But I really needed a break from everything and it took me a while to get back in the grove but I hope that this chapter was worth the wait.**

 **I'll try to publish the next chapter in the next couple of weeks.**

 **TheKike: This was incredible, Electra has returned but without memories that was to be expected, Shiva already presented himself with Matt and threatened him and the team, now it is personal I imagine that now that Shiva has already formed his team Matt will look for his team for this war. Keep it up**

 **Me: Hmm. I'll try and not say anything since it might spoil the rest of the story. Thanks for the review man.**

 **Till next time.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Reunion:**

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, November 28th 2010:**

Saying that the past two weeks were tough on New York's underworld would be an understatement. The criminals of New York were used to dealing with law enforcement, rival businesses and on occasion Daredevil. But ever since Sal Bertinelli died at the hands of some ninja every gang and mob in the city started to prepare for war.

They all gathered men, weapons, called in favours all to be ready for the inevitable. But what they didn't expect was to lose a significant number of their people and resources from raids conducted by scores of ninja slithering in and out of the shadows, bathing their territories with the blood of their men.

Everyone was affected by this, even the Yakuza - who were shocked to find out that such ninja even existed.

The head of the Russian Bratva, Anatoly, organised a meeting between all the major gangs of the city to discuss this issue. Though with tensions as high as they were, he was worried that they might end up shooting themselves, saving the ninja the trouble.

He sat on a simple wooden chair behind a white round table. Anatoly wanted to give everyone the illusion of equality, though it was clear that the Bratva and the Yakuza were the two major powers at play.

Anatoly's simple grey suit and red shirt combination seemed almost tame compared to the bombastic outfits the younger gang leaders chose to wear. Leopard printed blazers, gold chains that spelt out curse words, diamond-studded dresses that an opera singer might scoff at and expensive Italian suits that cost thousands of dollars more than they needed to be just because of a few extra layers of thread stitched in.

All the men and women sat patiently at the table, waiting for the final member to appear. Anatoly looked around the old restaurant slowly, noticing how many of the guards had their hands behind their jackets, ready to aim their guns if necessary.

 _Where is he?_ Anatoly thought as he cupped his hands. Arriving at a meeting late can be used as a powerplay. As if to say that the people and the subjects to be discussed were beneath you. Anatoly had used those techniques before. But even he knew that there was a time when civil discussion overweighed the need to show one's strength.

The guards hear chatter in their earpieces and they open the barriers to the door, allowing the final member to enter inside.

"Should have started a few minutes earlier Nobu. Traffic is quite unpleasant at this time," Anatoly said as he stood up to greet the Japanese man. Much like Anatoly, Nobu liked to dress quite simply. A black suit and a white shirt.

Nobu bowed apologetically, "Forgive me. I had a business to attend to," he said with his usual deep and cutting voice.

One of the younger gangsters laughed derisively. "Man, we all got business. But we still hear before you," he said, laying his legs on the table.

"We are all here. That's what matters. Take your seat Nobu," Anatoly said, gesturing to the chair next to him.

Nobu nodded, pulling the chair back and placing his coat on top of it. He rolled up his sleeves till his elbows, revealing a portion of his dragon tattoo that covered his entire body. When he sat down, Nobu leaned back and draped his arm across the chair next to him, making the other gangster sitting on it quite uncomfortable.

Another powerplay.

It wasn't like Nobu to be so disrespectful and that raised a few alarms in Anatoly's head. The silence was palpable. Neither Nobu nor Anatoly spoke up and none of the other gang leaders wanted to skip rank and speak up first.

Except for one.

"If you guys are done staring, pretty sure we came here to talk about the crazy-ass ninja's running around the place," Carlos - The head of the Cuban mafia said.

Nobu slowly turned his neck to face Carlos with a cross expression. "I hear that you and the recently departed Mexicans hired someone to deal with this issue," Nobu said with a degrading tone. "Even our resident Devil has had no luck with this issue."

"Yes. I highly doubt one man could make a difference," Anatoly said, agreeing with Nobu.

Carlos shook his head, "Nah. This guy's a monster. He took down the entire Julio Cartel last year. That's two hundred guys. Even Daredevil couldn't do that."

Nobu suppressed a chuckle. Taking out two hundred, pitifully trained, high drug dealers wouldn't be much of a problem for people of his or Daredevil's skill level. Especially in the woods with countless places to hide and set up traps.

A bright pink light appeared in the background and all the guards reached for their guns to aim at the source. Before they could fire, small pieces of metal pierced their throats, releasing fountains of blood from their necks. The ones that were closest to the entrance of the room were cut into pieces by a purple blade.

The mob bosses get up in a panic and run toward the exit behind them but the doors burst open, revealing a man with a glowing fist standing in front of three women.

The tallest of the three walked into the room with her head held high and her hands behind her back like she owned the place. Nobu pushed aside the other mobsters to stand in front of Shiva. "Master," he said, bowing in front of her.

The other members of the Hand copied Nobu's gesture, except for Psylock who kneeled on the floor. Shiva moved towards the chair Anatoly originally sat in and sat herself down, crossing her legs and resting her arms on the table.

"Sit," she commanded, looking coldly at the mobsters. They all huddled around the table, many trembling in fear. Anatoly looked at Nobu with disgust but the Japanese man didn't even glance in his direction.

Shiva took a look at the scared, whimpering souls around her and smiled. The sheep always cowered in front of the lion.

"From now on all your operations, legitimate and otherwise run through me. My ninja will no longer molest your men or interfere with your business. All that I require in return is twenty per cent of your profits, which I am sure is preferable to losing your lives," Shiva said in a manner that implied that there would be no negotiations.

"Under my guidance, you will no longer be harassed by the police. Rival gangs both domestic and international won't even dare try to interfere. And as for Daredevil, my people will deal with him if he becomes a threat," Shiva continued as if she were laying out the benefits of a business.

Anatoly rose from his seat, his hands in a fist and his face red with rage. "You people kidnap my granddaughter and almost killed her. How can you expect me to work for you?"

Nobu placed his hand on Anatoly's arm, giving the old gangster a clear view of his severed little finger. The message was clear. He had no choice, regardless of his history and feelings towards the Hand. Else he would be punished severely.

"But first," Shiva said, looking at Carlos. "Tell me about that weapon."

Carlos loosened his tie and gulped audibly. "I-it's um… you see," he said, stuttering his words as he breathed harder than a man at the end of a marathon.

Psylocke grabbed Carlos by the neck and she placed a finger on her temple, causing her eyes to turn pink. Pink energy enveloped the top of her head in the shape of a butterfly as she read the mind of the mobster.

The pink faded and she let go of Carlos. She looked at Shiva hesitantly.

"Well?"

"Master. They hired Victor Creed."

Bullseye's jaw dropped when he heard that, "You maggots must've been desperate to hire that animal. He's completely mental." à

Even Davos thought it was odd that Carlos would hire someone like Creed. Calling him a wild card was an understatement.

Shiva gestured towards Elektra. "Psylocke. Give my sister every piece of information you know."

"But master. I can kill the creature. No need to bother with her."

"Are you questioning me?" Shiva asked plainly.

Psylocke looked down to the ground, "No master." She moved back with a hurt look on her face.

"Hmm. Rather disappointing. I thought you'd grown a backbone. Debrief my sister," Shiva said, dismissing the mobsters. She assigned a handful of ninja to monitor them on their way back. One had to keep tabs on her assets after all.

Quake placed a friendly hand on Psylocke while the latter debriefed Elektra with a scowl.

As the girls were talking Nobu pulled Shiva aside to talk to her, "Perhaps it would be best if we sent Psylocke with her. Creed is far too dangerous to take on alone." Nobu fought Victor Creed once in his youth alongside a short, hairy man with metal claws. They barely escaped with their lives.

"The more she fights, the more she nourishes what's growing inside her," Shiva said, seemingly unconcerned with her sister's well being.

"It's quite a risk," Nobu said.

"For Creed maybe."

"Do you know what they call him?" Nobu asked.

Shiva nodded, "Sabretooth."

* * *

 **Hell's Kitchen, New York, November 29th 2010:**

"How much of that hard drive did you decrypt?" Matt asked over his earpiece as he swung through the city.

Lux yawned louder than a lion before responding, "Maybe a quarter. This is Lex Corp tech Matt. It takes a while. If we called Robin he might let us use the Batcomputer to speed things up," she suggested.

"You know. Things might go a bit faster if you took a nap and freshened up. You've been up for hours," Matt said. It wasn't uncommon for her to stay up for days on end just to piece together information for Matt. Most of that time was used to ensure that her tracks were covered and nothing she did that could be traced back to her or Matt. But even Matt thought that she could go overboard.

"What? No. It's only been… Thirty hours? Yeah, a nap might be good. But Robin could still… "

"Goodnight Lux," Matt said, cutting the call. Lux always meant well but Matt didn't want to hear what she had to say right now.

He had a lot on his mind right now and the last thing he needed was Dick pestering him about Batman's offer. If he had been asked a few months ago he would have agreed in a heartbeat. Well, maybe not that quickly but everyone on the Team had dreamed about joining the adults in the Justice League. They even argued about who would be the first among them to get selected on several occasions.

They usually agreed that Aqualad or Matt would probably be asked but he never expected it to happen so soon. Matt landed on top of a roof to clear his head. He rubbed his chest and arms as the cold air blew against him hard. Winds on top of buildings were always the worst.

"I should really get a new set of armour," Matt said through chattering teeth. He could regulate his body temperature to an extent while running around and swinging but he still felt cold, the meditation just helped him work through it.

Matt kneeled on the floor and let in every sound he possibly could. He heard the flutter of a butterflies wings, the gentle purr of a car starting and the fleshy sound of old men chewing. Matt then filtered out all the background chatter and focused on the noise that sounded most similar to those of people in need.

A daughter was arguing with her dad about her drug addict boyfriend a block away. Not relevant to Matt. A man was having an affair with his nanny, reprehensible but not worth Matt's time.

"Come on. Give me something," Matt muttered. He felt like he should feel guilty for wanting something bad to happen but he needed a distraction. Even if all it achieved was to distract him long enough for Lux to finish decrypting the harddrive.

Matt heard someone whimpering a block away. He aimed his attention on that direction and heard a small hand scraping against rusted metal. Probably a chain or a cage of some sort.

He quickly leapt off the building and grappled his way toward the building where he heard the whimpering. Matt landed in an alley and slowly tried to open a window but he couldn't on account of it being sealed shut by old paint.

Matt removed his Billy club and started to chip away at the paint till he felt like the window was starting to move. He gritt his teeth as he pried it open and he entered inside the building.

The stench of rotten flesh quickly assaulted his nostrils and Matt had to cover his mouth to stop himself from gagging. The entire floor smelled like a retired butcher shop. Even the floorboards were saturated with old, dried out blood.

Matt took a few steps forward but stopped when he stepped on something which rattled as he stepped on it. Matt bent over to pick up the item and inspect it.

His heart rate spiked briefly as he recognised the outline of what he picked up. _Female femur. Looks like the flesh was licked clean off. Indentations indicate bite marks from something with a human-sized jaw._

Upon further inspection, Matt found that the femur was a part of an entire skeleton. One that had only recently belonged to a living, breathing woman.

The sound of the whimpering entered Matt's ears again but seconds later it morphed into a gut-wrenching scream. He dropped the bone and ran down towards the basement where the scream originated from.

He could hear something snarling and the scent of flesh became stronger the closer he got. Matt kicked the door open to the basement and almost keeled over, feeling overwhelmed by the taste and smell of decaying human flesh.

The screaming stopped and Matt managed to hear something scuffle along the floor. He scanned the basement for anything abnormal and could hear the sound of chains swinging through the air which had the metallic taste of blood.

 _Old meat hooks. Maybe this edactually was a butcher's shop._

Matt ventured further and ignored the sickening feeling in his stomach. He heard a heartbeat a few away. Faint and slow.

He rushed to its location and found that it belonged to a young girl, maybe eleven years of age. She was trapped inside a cage and was missing an entire arm, leaving behind a bleeding stub.

"I'll get you out of there," Matt said as he attempted to pick the lock.

The girl could barely open her eyes and was sure to die of blood loss soon. Matt had just placed his pick inside the lock when he heard something lunging from behind him.

Matt rolled out of the way and a claw studded hand cut the cage door nearly in half. A killing blow if it had hit Matt.

The creature snarled at Matt. Circling him like a lion, cornering its prey. He was almost three hundred pounds in weight, most of the weight could be accounted for by his powerful muscles.

His teeth were serrated and he had cat-like claws where his nails should have been. Matt could taste the little girl's blood on his new enemies lips. The man had blond, mane-like hair.

"What did you do?" Matt asked, removing his Billy clubs.

The creature smiled as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "Her mother tasted delicious. Figured the daughter would be as well," he said, licking his lips.

"That family… " Matt began to say until the creature interrupted him.

"Your flesh smells fresh. Lots of muscle, not much fat. I'm going to peel it off your bones."

With no interruption or hesitation, the creature ran towards Matt at top speed, almost catching the teenager off guard. Matt ducked underneath a feral swipe but the creature managed to catch him with a kick to the chest.

The force sent Matt flying across to the other side of the room. Matt clutched his chest and felt his blood warming his hand. The creatures claws must have cut him.

Matt heard the creature pick up a table and it was thrown at him like it was a baseball. Matt barely dodged it as it shattered into splinters where he once stood.

The creature lunged towards Matt, picked him up by the throat and bit into his shoulder, hard. Matt screamed out loud as he felt his muscles burst and his bones crack.

He heard a butchers chain dangling behind him and instinctively grabbed it with his free hand and used it to puncture the creature's skull. Matt hit it repeatedly in a blind panic since the creature didn't let Matt out of its jaws after the first blow.

In response, the creature bit down on Matt's arm even harder, making a large amount of blood spew out. In a desperate attempt to survive, Matt grasped the meat hook on the chain and drove it straight through the creatures eye.

Both fighters yelled in pain as the creature let Matt go. Matt ran back towards the cage where the girl was kept, his limp arm dangling at his side, teeth still embedded inside his shoulder. If one took a look at his arm, they could see the white of bone underneath torn flesh.

Matt used his one good arm to try and pry the cage open, which was far easier than it should have been since the creature had cut down a good chunk of the cage's bars in its first attack. Matt tried to hear the girls heartbeat but it was fading quickly. He reached his hand out to pick her up but before he could a large set of claws grabbed Matt's side, puncturing his belly like a balloon. Matt screamed out again as he was dragged across the floor like a lamb about to be slaughtered and was hoisted up in the air.

"You're gonna watch me finish that girl off. Then, I'm gonna eat you. Nice and slow," the creature said as its eye quickly started to heal right in front of Matt.

Matt could feel his body shivering. He couldn't tell if it was from the massive blood loss or fear. "What the hell are you?"

"I own you," the creature said with a sadistic smile before licking Matt's wounded shoulder, making him shudder. It then walked over to the girl's cage and lifted her by her one remaining arm.

 _Come on. Get up. Get up,_ Matt pleaded to himself mentally. He tried with all his might but his legs wouldn't move. It was as if his body had already given up on him.

Matt witnessed in horror as the creature bit the girls head clean off of her body. He dropped the body unceremoniously on the floor and started to crack her head open like an egg.

Matt could feel something inside him snap. For a brief moment, he felt the pain in his body disappear and without thinking he grabbed a knife from his belt and threw it at the creature, hitting it straight in the neck. Matt ran away from the basement and up the stairs, faster than he's ever run in months. He placed a few chemical pellets along the way to block his scent. He didn't want the creature to track him down.

He heard the creature pull the knife out of its neck as casually as one would pop a zit. Matt leapt out of the window and almost collapsed in the street. The pain in his body flooded back almost immediately and he grabbed onto his arm, which felt like it was about to fall off. Matt's belly was also cut open but none of his internal organs were falling out so he considered himself lucky, in spite of the burning pain.

Matt staggered forward in the direction of his apartment, hitting his wounds, using the pain just to stay conscious. He needed to get home.

* * *

Elektra climbed up onto the rooftop, just in time to see an orange sunrise to greet the city. She felt it's rays warm her skin and she allowed herself to feel grateful. There was rarely a moment in her life that she can relax like this.

Her sister had tasked her with finding Sabertooth but she had no idea where to start looking. The Cuban mobster who hired him wasn't told where he would be located and no one else knew enough about him to give her an idea on how to track him.

Bullseye was a much better tracker than she was and she felt like it would have been better if he were tagging along. Elektra closed her eyes as the sun rose higher.

As the sun bathed the streets of Hell's Kitchen in light Elektra found the roof she was standing on to be quite familiar. She looked around and found a spot where she swore she once stood on months ago.

Elektra recalled her kissing a red-haired boy on the lips on this very spot. A memory that was very confusing to her since she doesn't remember ever meeting that boy.

Out of curiosity, she decided to explore the building below her. She peered down the roof and saw an open window sill. She scaled down the building and entered a bedroom.

Elektra stood there with a handheld to her head as she struggled to remember why she knew this room. Memories flashed in her mind as she saw various objects scattered across the place.

She bit her lip seeing a half-eaten breakfast on a desk. She recalled the terrible stomach pains she had after eating his cooking.

The sight of the half-made bed made her blush and look away. She couldn't remember exactly what happened there but she didn't need to.

Elektra rummaged through the drawers and found a picture of her and the boy inside. Both of them were smiling and looked blissful and happy. Something she hadn't felt in a long time. She giggled, remembering how much he whined when she dragged him to see the crocodiles at the zoo where the picture was taken

Elektra composed herself and placed the picture back in the drawer and closed it. She turned around to face the window but was almost startled by the sight of a half-dead Daredevil, covered in blood. He collapsed right in front of her and immediately her training kicked in.

Elektra removed her sai and placed it against his throat. She was about to slice him wide open till she saw a tuft of red hair beneath a torn portion of his mask.

She ripped it off and saw that he was the boy that she was remembering. Elektra's hand trembled as her sai barely broke Matt's skin. She threw her blade away and then felt frustrated by the fact that she didn't kill him.

Elektra carried Matt in her arms and placed him in his bed. She tore his shirt off and to her surprise found herself appalled at the sight of his wounds. She never cared when anyone in the Hand got hurt. Why did she react this way with him?

She removed a few healing herbs and applied them to his body. Matt groaned as the herbs started to take effect. Elektra opened his eyes to check for a concussion but was shocked to see that his eyes were glazed over.

 _He's blind?_

Elektra shook her head and looked around the room. She found his school bag and checked the name tag.

'Matthew Murdock.'

She read the name and looked at his face once more and ran her hand along his cheek. "Matthew," she muttered under her breath as if she was saying his name for the first time.

She heard someone trying to open Matt's door and she rushed out of the window, grabbing the photograph on her way out. Whoever it was called a nurse called Claire. No doubt to provide him with some further medical attention.

Elektra noticed some teeth stuck in the boy's flesh as she was healing him. He encountered Sabertooth and when he recovered he would go back to try and find him. And when he did, she would kill them both and bring their heads to her sister.

Whoever he was to her in the past didn't matter. All that was left for her was the Hand.

At least that's what she wanted to believe. Because if she did then why did she grab that picture and risk getting captured?

She also didn't know what had happened to her before the Hand restored her memory. Everyone was quite vague about that.

After a few minutes of thinking, Elektra made a decision. She would keep Matt alive. Long enough for her to get some answers anyway.

She sat herself down on the rooftop, ignoring the voice in her head telling her to kill him and be done with it. There would be time for that eventually.

* * *

Matt opened his eyes after feeling something being injected into his veins. He raised his hand and heard the rattling of the IV drip.

His entire body felt numb, probably from the morphine, judging by the traces of it he can taste in the air. He heard two familiar heart beats next to him.

"How long was I out?" Matt asked.

Mark let out a massive breath, relieved that Matt had woken up. "Three days. Claire said that it would've taken longer if you didn't use that magic ninja healing crap."

"I don't remember using any ninja crap."

Claire stepped in to speak, "You lost a lot of blood. You were lucky to make back here alive," she said, changing Matt's sheets.

Matt tried to get up but he could feel dozens of stitches and bandages threatening to rip him in half of her did. Claire put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Relax. You're still going to need a few more days to heal up."

"Did you fight a tiger or something?" Mark asked casually.

Matt let out a painful chuckle, "Not exactly."

"I'm going out to get some more antibiotics. You guys want anything?" Claire asked the boys.

Mark and Matt shook their heads. Claire smiled, "I'm just gonna pick up a pizza." She knew the brothers needed some time to talk to each other.

After Claire left Mark waited patiently for Matt to start talking. But Matt just closed his eyes and started breathing slowly.

"Wasn't a tiger. It was a guy."

"Must be some guy. Haven't seen you this beat-up ever. I mean, you looked like you were dragged through a meat grinder."

"That's a nice visual," Matt said sarcastically. He sighed and covered his face with his hand. "He ate a little girl."

Mark's face sank when he heard, "What?"

"Trapped her in a cage-like an animal and ripped her head off and ate it," Matt said closing his eyes. He could still vividly remember the vomit-inducing sound of her bones being broken apart.

But what sickened Matt was his lack of reaction. "I should be angry. I should want to rip this guy apart. But I… "

Matt detected a strange object in the corner of his bedroom and pointed towards it. "Hey, can you get that?"

Mark picked it up and handed it to Matt who traced his fingers around it. His eyes widened when he recognised what it was.

 _Was she here? Did she patch me up?_

"Uh, Mark. You mind getting me a glass of water?"

Mark nodded and headed into the kitchen. He poured some water into a glass and went back into Matt's room. But when he did, he was greeted to an empty bed.

"Mother fu… "

* * *

Matt waited patiently in the corner of the old workshop, sitting down on a bench while the two men in front of him argued. He adjusted the black cloth on his face so that his bruises would be somewhat hidden.

Though he wasn't sure what was worst. The fact that his arm was quite literally hanging by a few threads and his gut was a few punches away from spilling its bloody content all over the floor. Or the fact that he had to hear Melvin Potter and Stilt-Man - a.k.a Wilbur - argue for over ten straight minutes.

"I'm telling you, adding night vision to the lenses is dumb. The helmet would overheat and cause him to pass out. Also, how'd you plan on powering it?" Melvin asked.

"Says the man who tried to add buzz saws to the gauntlets. I'm the guy who used a stilt themed costume for years and even I knew that that was a bad idea," Wilbur countered.

Matt cracked his knuckles and his face was steaming up. He couldn't tolerate another moment of these two arguing.

"Quiet!" he shouted out, making the two men yelp like school kids. "Do you guys have any armour or not?"

Wilbur and Melvin look at each other sheepishly.

"Well… " Wilbur started.

"We do but… " Melvin said.

"But what?"

Melvin tiptoed over to a briefcase and handed it over to Matt with a limp arm as if he were ashamed of what he helped create. Matt opened it and ran his fingers over the material of the suit.

"Hmm. Lighter, stronger, more flexible than the last one. What's the problem?"

Wilbur and Melvin look at each other again but this time with confused looks.

"The armours black," Wilbur said, pointing to the briefcase.

The gloves, boots, utility belt and eye lenses were still red, along with the 'DD' symbol. But the rest of the suit was a shade of black so dark that Batman would be jealous of.

 _Oh shit,_ Matt thought as he tried thinking of a way to weasel his way out of this.

"Yeah. I know. It'll help me um… blend in with the shadows better," he said with fake confidence.

Wilbur and Melvin shrug and ignore Matt's comment. At least they weren't getting yelled at.

Matt closed the briefcase and asked, "Why did you make it black?"

Melvin shot Wilbur with an accusatory glare, "Because someone poured brake fluid into the paint."

"That was the cat's fault and you know it."

Matt shook his head and shook both men by the hand. He was happy to see Wilbur doing something productive with his life now. Even if he argued with his boss like they were an old married couple.

He walked up the stairs to the top of the building and hopped by a few rooftops before changing into his new armour. Something that was a painful process thanks to the two major injuries that Matt had yet healed from.

"I swear the red one was easier to put on," Matt muttered frustratedly as he squeezed his feet into the boots. Matt had grown a bit since Melvin last measured him so the suit was a bit on the small side. It wasn't so tight that it aggravated his injuries but it was still annoying.

Matt made a mental reminder to come and visit the workshop later to get a resized suit. He took a second to pause before putting on the helmet. He tapped at the horns, feeling somewhat anxious. He hadn't worn his Daredevil armour in so long that Matt almost felt like a fraud.

Like the symbol had lost its meaning.

Any self-reflection stopped instantly after he heard a small piece of glass breaking on the roof of a neighbouring building and he quickly placed the mask on his head and hid in the shadows. Matt crouched down and stayed completely still, ignoring the way it made his injuries feel.

He heard light, cat-like steps land and flutter across the roof he was currently on and was ready to pounce at the source until Matt recognised the breathing pattern of the person they belonged to.

 _Elektra,_ he thought.

She stood there on the roof, looking around, slowly analysing every nook and corner where someone could hide. It was only a matter of time until she spotted Matt.

Suddenly Matt felt like he was talking to her the first time. Anxious and not sure what to say or do. But he decided to listen to his instincts and he calmly walked out of shadows.

Elektra spotted him and raised her sai at him. Matt raised his hands, "I'm not here to fight," he said, still keeping his hands raised. Elektra eyed him suspiciously, she kept her blade pointed at him while she came close to him and removed the Billy clubs from his belt.

Matt felt something tug at his heart and he desperately wanted to hold her at that moment. To hug her and kiss her. To tell her how much he had missed her. But he didn't want to get stabbed again and so, he stopped himself from doing so.

Elektra threw his weapons away and stared at Matt. This should have been simple. Incapacitate him, put a knife to his throat, find out what he knew about Sabretooth and cut his throat when he was done. But she also wanted answers about her past and Daredevil was a part of her life in some way.

He would be more compliant alive.

"Stand against that wall," she said, pushing him by his shoulder. Matt noticed that she actively avoided touching his injury. He suppressed a smile. It had been so long since he heard her voice which sounded melodic to Matt's ears. In spite of the threat, she posed to him right now.

"Can you track down the man who did this to you?"

"You're looking for him too?"

Elektra prodded Matt's belly, making him wince. "I'll ask again. Can you track him down?"

Matt nodded and Elektra let him go, walking away and standing at the edge of the building. "Your cities law enforcement already locked down an abandoned building with two dead bodies. One of them was a headless girl and the walls and floors were covered in claw marks. So we'll have to look elsewhere," Elektra surmised quickly.

"I know a guy who might have some info," Matt said, giving her a small smile. A gesture she was completely unaffected by.

"Then let's go."

Matt stopped her from jumping away by asking, "That's it?" He asked, expecting her to ask him some more questions.

She didn't want to look weak in front of her new ally by asking him a personal question. Even if the alliance was a temporary one. She removed a small pellet from her sleeve and handed it to Matt.

"Take this. It'll suppress the pain and hasten your healing," she said, refusing to look directly at Matt's face. Before Matt could thank her she leapt off of the building.

Matt ate the pellet and smacked himself in the face. "Great job Matt. Great job," he muttered to himself sarcastically, jumping behind Elektra.

* * *

Matt and Elektra were perched on a rooftop for over two hours and despite being trained to endure stakeouts for a much longer period of find they found themselves bored out of their minds. The tension that resulted from neither of them knowing how to speak to the other didn't make matters any better.

A pigeon flew overhead and landed on Elektra's hand. She waved her other hand at it, making it fly away towards Matt's head. Matt tried in vain to make it fly away but it kept returning to the top of his head.

Elektra, feeling irritated by the sound of its feral wings flapping about cut the pigeon in half with a quick motion with her sai. Matt wiped the blood and feathers off of his head and thanked her half-heartedly.

"I thought you New Yorkers would be accustomed to those pests."

"Yeah. The city should probably invest more cash into hiring crazy ninja chicks to take care of them."

Elektra scoffed that the idea. "That would be the worst way to use taxpayers dollars. Then again this country is filled with people who call football soccer."

"What's wrong with that?"

"The sport involves kicking a ball with one's feet. Why would you call it something so arbitrary like soccer?"

"I-I well, shut up," Matt said childishly. Elektra always used to make fun of American culture when they were together. "Guess some things never change."

"What was that?" Elektra asked.

Matt tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at a skinny black man in a suit, walking across the alley. "That's him. Turk Barrett."

Elektra brandished her sai and was ready to pounce on him till Matt stopped her. "Let's resort to pigeon stabbing later. Just let him talk and he'll spill everything."

"Not everything," Elektra said, putting her sai away. The two jumped into the alley and surrounded Turk.

"Not you two again. D, I like the new digs but can you lay off my case for one night. I got a date," Turk said, waving his hand around.

Elektra grabbed the hand and kicked Turk hard in the groin making him fall to the floor with hands covering his privates. "Tell us what we need to know or your date will be sleeping with a eunic tonight."

Matt stood him up and lightly slapped him across the face to shake the cobwebs out of his head. "You hear anything about a guy who looks like a giant lion who eats people and can heal really fast?"

Turk looked at Matt like he just asked him for his kidneys. "Just rumours. Ah, jeez my nuts hurt."

Elektra pushed him against the wall and placed the tip of her blade precariously close to his groin, "I wonder what will kill you first. The blood loss or the emasculation."

Matt crossed his arms and nodded. "Seriously. Just give us something."

"Three," Elektra said, starting to count down. "Two."

"Wait. Wait. I heard from a guy who knows a guy who's friends with this drug dealer talk about this crazy cat slicing people up near that abandoned hospital on 39th Street," Turk said, giving Elektra a pleading look.

Elektra removed the blade and looked at Matt, " _This_ is your informant?" She asked incredulously, unable to take the skinny man seriously.

"Trust me. That's better than half the info he usually feeds me. Thanks, Turk, get your boyfriend something nice," Matt said, walking away from Turk.

"Nah man. I'm not… "

"Yes you are," Matt said out loud before he grappled up to the top of the building. Turk would now have extra incentive to inform Matt about the going ons in the city. The last thing Turk needed was that news spreading. Most criminals weren't the most accepting of people.

Elektra followed Matt up the building, taking slightly longer to climb this to her lack of a grappling device. Matt noticed how much faster she was than before her death.

"What are you waiting for? We have our location," Elektra said as Matt stood still with his arms crossed.

"You seriously don't remember me?"

"Should I?"

Matt stepped closer to her. "Why'd you come to my house and heal me then? You could have just killed me or let me bleed out."

Elektra turned around and closed her eyes, she felt her heart fluttering like a butterfly when she heard him talk. It felt odd but nice and she did not like that.

"I have my reasons," she said coyly.

Matt traced a finger along with the spot where Bullseye stabbed and killed her, making Elektra gasp. She pushed him away, not because he touched her but because that scar had always given her a bad feeling.

"Do you remember how you got that at least?' Matt asked.

"We don't have time for this," Elektra said before running off towards the location Turk gave them. Matt chased after her, remaining silent as he struggled to keep up with her pace.

* * *

"Two heat signatures. One of them's faint, the other is almost undetectable. Both heartbeats are slow," Matt said as they stood on the roof opposite to the abandoned hospital.

"Can you tell which one belongs to Sabertooth?" Elektra asked.

Matt shook his head, "Chances are he's got another victim trapped in there. We'll need to free them before confronting the big guy."

"You can waste your time with that. My task is clear," Elektra stated.

Matt grabbed Elektra's arm before she could leave. "We can take care of Sabertooth after freeing his captive," Matt suggested sternly, while quickly grabbing her arm.

"Take your hand off me before I break it," Elektra responded with the same level of seriousness. Matt let go of her, knowing that she could make good on that threat effortlessly. "My reports say that he sleeps for long periods after eating. Like a form of mini-hibernation. We free the hostage then we cut Creed's head off."

"We don't have to kill him," Matt said.

Elektra looked at him like he was a naive child, "I wonder how many people you would have ended up saving if you sent _your_ victims to the morgue instead of a hospital bed." With that, she scaled down the building and climbed the fire escape of the hospital.

 _I never stop thinking about that,_ Matt thought as he swung towards Elektra's position using his Billy club. She slid the window open and Matt entered first, checking to see if the coast was clear.

He could smell fresh blood and a copious amount of drugs in the room at the end of the corridor. Matt gestured towards Elektra, telling her that it was safe to come inside.

She was about to draw her weapons but Matt raised his hand and shook his head. "You're not gonna need those."

Matt opened the door at the end of the corridor and Elektra saw why she didn't need her weapons. The only person inside was a young woman, chained to a bed with an IV inside her arm. She was pale and missing a leg which was cut clean off, with almost surgical precision.

The woman saw the two of them and started crying. She pleaded to them in a language Matt didn't understand.

"She speaking Korean?"

Elektra nodded. "She's saying that the monster is upstairs. That he comes for her every few hours to cut little pieces off of her to eat and… "

"And?"

"He uses her in other ways as well," Elektra said with disgust.

Matt concentrated and heard the flutter of torn cloth around the woman's legs along and could smell her blood soaking her clothes and her mattress. When Matt figured out what else Sabertooth was doing to her he started to growl in anger.

"Let's get her out of here," Matt said, taking the IV out of her arm.

"She's septic. The infection in her leg would kill her before you could get her to a hospital."

"Then use those herbs you gave me."

"Your body was trained to tolerate them. They'd only poison her," Elektra said.

Matt put his fingers to the ridge of his nose. "Then what do you suggest."

Elektra slowly removed her sai and twirled it between her fingers. "It will be painless. I promise."

"No," Matt said firmly.

"She's better off dying peacefully in bed rather than in a hospital filled with meddling doctors trying in vain to save her."

"They might be able to save her."

"No, they won't. You know that. Besides, death is inevitable. At least she has someone to look over her as she passes."

Matt gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "We'll figure something out."

"No we won't," Elektra said. She moved Matt aside and drove her sai into her ribcage. The woman could feel her blood drain from her body but she felt little in the way of pain.

She looked into Elektra's eyes with a thankful look. Elektra held her hand as the light in her eyes faded away.

Matt stood there, wanting to do something to stop her from dying but he knew Elektra had a point. She was dying peacefully. A luxury his father didn't get to have.

He wondered what Elektra must have felt when she died. Was she lonely? Did she feel betrayed? She clearly must have some idea about what happened to her since she took the time to comfort the dying woman.

"Brain activity and heartbeat have stopped," Matt said.

Elektra nodded and let go of the dead woman's hand. "Let's finish the bastard who did this."

"Right. Let's do that," Matt said unenthusiastically. He just let Elektra euthanize someone. If anything he felt like he was the one who handed her a death sentence.

And he would have to live with that.

* * *

When Matt and Elektra walked upstairs, they found Sabretooth sitting in the middle of the floor, waiting for them. The two surrounded him while he stood up.

"You took away my toy. But looks like you brought me a new one," Sabretooth said looking at Elektra with lustful eyes.

"I'm not as fragile as your other victims," Elektra said while Matt stood behind Sabertooth.

Sabretooth gave the two a toothy grin. "You got yourself a new suit and a feisty girlfriend to take me on. I'm touched."

Elektra removed her sai and Matt did the same with his Billy clubs. They rushed Sabertooth who leapt into the air and grabbed Matt, then threw him into Elektra.

She pushed Matt off of him unceremoniously and threw some shuriken at Sabretooth who let them strike him in the chest. He casually broke them off of his body and Elektra saw as the wounds healed in a matter of seconds.

Sabretooth suddenly started to feel a little drowsy, he could smell poison on the broken shuriken. Matt got up and threw his Billy club into Sabretooth's temple, cracking his skull. Elektra didn't allow him any time to heal and ran at him at blinding speed and sliced his throat.

Elektra ducked under a random swipe but got hit by a kick to the face that sends her crashing through a wall. She moaned in pain and saw that her belly was pierced. Her body began to heat up and the power within her began to heal the wound.

Matt tasted her blood in the air and an act of sudden rage, performed a quadruple somersault and extended his legs to hit Creed the jaw, breaking it.

He then hit Creed in the head with a rapid series of right and left hooks, throwing his entire body weight into each attack. Creed felt his head shoot left and right and each punch left his brain more and more rattled.

Matt then finished the attack by spinning in the air and kicking Sabretooth in the temple, completely fracturing his skull. Elektra, having somewhat recovered, completely removed Sabretooth's arms and legs with her sai.

She then joined Matt into simultaneously punching Creed in the face, knocking him out completely.

Matt and Elektra stood there covered in sweat. Despite not working with each other for a long time, their movements were almost in sync. A fact that Matt barely noticed but Elektra found incredibly odd.

Elektra took out some oil from her sleeve and poured it over Sabretooth's limbless body. The beast was too incoherent to speak but he started to gurgle when Elektra poured some of the oil down his throat.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked.

"Burning this thing alive before he heals again," Elektra stated emotionlessly.

She lit a match and Matt raised his hands, trying to plead with her. "I can call the Justice League here. They can help us contain him. They can probably help you too."

Elektra didn't respond. She felt like she's heard this speech before and this time she didn't feel like listening to it. She dropped the match on Creed, setting him alight.

There was no trace of joy or regret on her face. She finished her job and that's what mattered. Elektra jumped out of a window in the building while Matt grabbed a cloth and wrapped it around the burning Creed and rolled him on the floor to stop the fire.

After he stopped him from burning alive, Matt called Batman and briefly explained the situation, leaving out a few details. Matt took a pipe and drove it straight through Creed's chest, pinning him in place till the League got here. He left the building and sniffed the air, trying to pick Elektra's scent.

Matt got wind of the direction she was headed in and knew exactly where she went.

* * *

Elektra wasn't sure why she decided to go to Central Park. There was something about the place that made her feel calm. Like nothing in the world could disturb her.

She walked along the pathway under the leafless trees and rubbed her arms to warm her up. New York winters are notoriously chilly.

A bench entered her line of sight and she headed straight towards it. When she got there she started to remember the last time she sat on it.

Her head began to hurt as the memories began to flood back. She had just stopped Matt from beating a Purple man to death after the latter mind-controlled her for nearly a day.

She and Matt sat on this bench afterwards and she leaned her head on his shoulder, neither party saying anything. Just taking comfort in the presence and warmth of each other.

Elektra fell to her knees when the memory faded. Her heart was beating rapidly and her breath was coming in short bursts. She was feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety and didn't know how to handle it.

She stood up and turned around after feeling a presence behind her. Matt stood there with a neutral expression on his face.

Elektra readied herself for a fight. Her sister always made her fight Nobu whenever she displeased her. She recalled how her father used to abuse her and her sister. She expected Matt to react in the same way.

But much to her surprise Matt wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her close to him. Elektra let herself relax in his embrace and hugged him back.

Matt closed his eyes and allowed himself to just take in her presence. He felt like an anvil had just been taken off his chest and Elektra, while not sure why she was feeling this was just glad to receive something other than fear or contempt from another human being.

"Why? Why are you… " Elektra started.

"You sound just as beautiful as the day I met you," Matt said, raising Elektra's chin gently with his fingers.

Elektra scoffed in disbelief, "Were you always so corny?" She asked with a small smile.

"Still works right?" Matt asked cheekily, returning a smile back at her.

The two lean their foreheads against each other and take the time to simply enjoy the other person's presence. Matt caressed her cheek and Elektra ran her fingers through his red hair.

Neither Matt or Elektra wanted to say anything. They wanted to stay in this moment for as long as possible because they knew that the moment they started talking about the Hand, things would inevitably go south.

"I'm sorry Matthew," Elektra said. He gently took his hand away from his face and smiled at him. "But I've got to go back."

"No, you don't. You can stay with me. Whatever you're going through, we can take care of it. Together," Matt said.

Elektra felt the scar from the injury that caused her death. She remembered how lonely she felt when she was bleeding out in the middle of that office. She hated how scared she felt that night. Scared that she wouldn't see Matt again.

She didn't want to feel that way ever again and if being away from Matt achieved that then so be it.

"Goodbye, Matthew," Elektra said with a sad tone before dropping the picture she stole from his room into the mud.

Elektra lowered her rate of breath and slowed down her heart and moved away from Matt swiftly. Matt searched around with his senses and called out her name but she didn't listen.

Love was a weakness. And she had already paid the price for it.

* * *

Matt must have spent over an hour looking for Elektra. Sabretooth was taken away to a metahuman prison somewhere in Canada so that was one less thing for him to do.

He had to take a few minutes to stop since his wounds from before hadn't yet fully healed. "At least she remembers me to some degree. That's gotta count for something right?" He asked himself.

At this point, Matt almost felt numb to the haymakers life had been throwing at him. There was only so many times a guy could break down from stress and pain.

But at least now he had some hope. She knew who she was and that was a good thing.

There was only one place he could find her. The Hand's HQ. Matt just hoped that Lux finished decrypting that harddrive.

Matt placed his finger on his communicator and called her. He needed someone to talk to about everything that had happened recently and Lux was the only one that just let him talk without any judgement.

"Yeah Lux I… what? When? Yeah. Yeah. I'll be there."

* * *

"It's nothing, Matt. Don't worry," Lux said as she adjusted her covers on the hospital bed.

"You fainted after staying up for sixty hours cracking a harddrive I asked you decipher. So yeah. I think I'm entitled to worrying a little bit," Matt said, folding his arms. Lux knew how important the information on the drive was. She almost extracted the final piece of information that would have told her where the Hand were located but staying awake for nearly four days straight without proper fluid intake was not healthy for anyone.

Matt rubbed his face and took in a deep and much-needed breath. "Ok. That was rude. How you holding up?"

Lux took a look at Matt's bruised face. "I think I should be asking you that."

He turned himself around so that his injuries would be masked by shadows. "It's complicated."

"So uncomplicate it. Talk to me. Please."

Matt sighed and sat next to her on the hospital bed. He took off his helmet and summarized the events that took place over the last few days. To her credit, Lux took the news about Elektra regaining a portion of her memories rather well.

"So she just left you?"

"Yeah, maybe she thought I was just making her weak or something. Or maybe it's God's way of telling me that I deserve to be alone," Matt said with a vacant stare. His eyes were red but he shed no tears.

Lux held Matt's hand firmly. She knew that he needed someone to be there when he got this way.

"You're not alone Matt," she said kindly.

Matt brushed her hand aside and walked away from the bed. He put on his helmet and opened the window so he could jump out.

She was in a hospital because of him. Matt couldn't stand the idea of burying her too.

"I should be," he said before wincing in pain. Matt started limping towards the window, with his arm twitching at his side.

Lux yelled out to him, "The whole Martyr thing was noble at first. Sacrificing yourself to help other people. I understood that.

"I helped you cus I believed in what you were doing. But now it's like you're just looking for an excuse to… "

"To what? Feel pain? To die? You knew what the risks were the day you signed up," Matt said incredulously.

Matt stood still. The sound of Sabretooth's last victim, bleeding to death was still fresh in his mind. A pathetic waste of life.

"Everyone dies. May as well do it for something worthwhile," he continued with a tired voice.

He leapt out of the window and swung away. Matt didn't mind if he got hurt saving people. Just as long as his loved ones didn't get hit in the crossfire.

* * *

Bullseye and Davos were watching a game of soccer - or football - on TV. They had far too much free time on their hands and decided to place bets on their favourite teams winning.

So far Davos had won most of the bets. Which peeved Bullseye greatly.

"You've been stuck up a magic mountain for a hundred years. How the hell do you know anything about football?" The Irishman asked.

"The game isn't that complicated," Davos responded simply.

The two duck down behind the couch after a shuriken lodged itself on the TV screen. They take a peek up from the sofa and see Elektra there, standing there with more shuriken in her hand.

Elektra shoved the couch with her enhanced strength, smashing it into splinters when it hit a wall and she lifted the much larger Bullseye by the throat with one hand. Davos stopped himself from using his fist on her. He didn't want to harm his master's sister.

Bullseye gasped for air and frantically banged against Elektra's arm. Her eyes glowed a fiery red and she asked, "What did you do to me?"

"I-I don't. I didn't… " Bullseye said between long gasps for air.

The red of her eyes faded and she felt the rage inside her wash away. Elektra dropped Bullseye and left the room, rushing to her sisters quarters.

She kicked the large, ornate doors open and marched towards her sister who was sitting in her chair. Completely calm and unflinching.

"You had Bullseye kill me?" Elektra asked.

Shiva nodded her head, seeing no need to lie.

Elektra felt her rage building up again. That unnatural heat was driving her insane, "What the hell did you put inside me?"

Shiva stood up and started to walk around her sister in a circle like she was inspecting her. Elektra felt like she was being sized up like a pig for slaughter.

"A Black Sky is a creature born with the ability to host demonic entities in their bodies long enough till said demon can walk on our world," Shiva exposited. "I have no idea what random, mystical process turns a normal baby into a Black Sky but luckily for us, you were born with that rare trait."

"You… You put Trigon inside me?" Elektra asked, horrified by Shiva's emotionless explanation.

"When Trigon returns only the strong will be left to walk this earth. A weak-minded warrior polluted you with his flawed morality. The only way I could turn you back to what you were meant to be was to take your life," Shiva said. She combed her fingers through Elektra's hair, a rare show of affection. "You know I'm right. Why else come back after finding out the truth?"

Elektra looked away from, unable to say anything to contradict Shiva and a confident smirk emerged on the latter's face. "Now. I trust Sabretooth was taken care of."

"Yes. Of course," Elektra said clumsily. "I'm sorry for doubting you sister."

"I'm glad you found out. Now go. Take some time to rest."

Elektra bowed and exited her sisters quarters. When she moved far away enough Shiva summoned one of her undead ninja. She knew that the League had taken Sabretooth away. The fact that Elektra's memories were returning and that she started to lie to her was troubling.

"Have Bullseye and Davos deal with Murdock. Make sure the boy does not come out of this unscathed."

* * *

 **Yay. I finished this. Elektra and Matt back together (kind of. Not really).**

 **Poor guy can't seem to catch a break. Anyways. Next chapter, prepare yourself for a few superhero type brawls.**

 **Anyways. Like, comment, subscribe (because this site works just like YouTube in my sleep-deprived mind)**

 **Responding to comments and stuff:**

 **TheKike: I HOPED THIS CHAPTER, that Matt will help Conner not expect it and also that blackmailing Luthor was the best, so good that you decided to put the league talk about the recruits and talk about Matt, what Batman said about Matt was true. He had everything to become a villain, but he used his pain to feed his anger and keep fighting, you can make Matt agree to join the League, but make it temporary. keep it up**

 **Me: I really want to talk about the future stuff but I really can't since that would spoil a lot of things for the future but thanks for the comment dude.**

 **See you all later.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Monos:**

 **Manchester, England, December 1st 2010:**

The crowds in the arena were cheering louder than Mark had ever heard before. He didn't need his brothers enhanced hearing to know that this was the largest crowd he had ever perform in front of.

Mark was wearing a sleeveless silk hood with red shorts and gloves, which were taped onto his wrist. He was shadowboxing, throwing out slow and calculated punches in the air, psyching himself up for the upcoming fight. The man he was fighting was twenty-three years older than him but was the undefeated champ of three boxing divisions and had won sixty-three fights compared to Mark's fifteen.

The fact they were in England, his opponents home town with a passionate audience that started booing him the day he arrived made Mark extremely nervous. His dad never even came close to a title shot when he was alive despite boxing longer than Mark had been alive. Mark felt his legs wobble when he heard one of the stadium employees say that he was on in ten minutes.

He saw Claire and Matt sitting behind him via the mirror of his changing room. Claire patted Matt on the shoulder who was still nursing his wounds from his fight with Sabretooth. She walked up to Mark and placed her hands on his face, calming him down instantly.

"You ok?" she asked him.

Mark nodded half-heartedly, which made Claire cock her eyebrow in disbelief. Mark lowered his head and sighed. "Guy's a monster. He's beaten up guys way better than me."

"Weren't you the one who said he was old and slow the other day?"

"I was trying to be all macho. You don't end up staying the champ for this long by being a pushover."

Claire smiled, "Only reason he's still champ is because he hasn't fought you yet." She lightly kissed him on the lips and punched his gloves.

Matt groaned as he stood up and limped over towards Mark. He was not in the mood to hear them making out tonight.

"You sure you're ok? You stay down here if you want," Mark said, concerned about his brother's condition.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world," Matt said excitedly, shrugging off any concerns his brother had.

Matt had been incredibly upbeat recently during the build up to the fight and Mark was extremely glad to see the improvement in his brothers mood.

"They'd be proud man," Matt added sincerely.

Mark nodded and smiled. Matt punched his gloves hard, "Kick that guy's ass."

Matt gently grabbed Claire's elbow as she guided him out of the changing rooms to the ringside seats. He needed to keep up appearances of being a normal blind guy after all.

"You nervous kid?" Ted Grant asked Mark.

Mark nodded and stood upright as his coach approached him. The old man eyed Mark and grabbed him forcefully by the face. "The guy you're fighting's more experienced than you and he's got a longer reach. But you're younger. Faster and hungrier."

Ted jabbed a finger on Mark's chest. "Plus you got the heart of a Murdock. Your family is too stubborn to lose."

* * *

For the second time in the tenth round, Mark fell head first onto the canvas. The sound of the referee counting to ten and the roaring crowd was drowned out by the sound of his own ragged breath. Mark stayed down till he heard the referee count to eight.

Before he reached to nine Mark stood straight up and whipped away the blood pouring down over his left eye. The referee checked the fighter's condition. There was a large cut over his left eye and his right eye was swollen shut. But Mark was still standing and seemed able enough to fight.

The referee spread his arms and allowed the fight to continue. Mark had bit through his mouth piece hard enough to split it and could barely see. Not that it would have helped since his opponent - who went by the name of Wallace Wall - ran straight towards Mark and landed two straight punches through Mark's weak guard, which made him stagger back.

The bell rang, indicating that the round was over. Wallace barely was barely bruised while Mark looked like he was hit with a sledgehammer and was thanking God that the round had stopped.

"Is that all you've got mate?" Wallace shouted out while Mark walked back to his corner. He spat out his mouth guard before sitting on the stool. His body was running on fumes and he still had two more rounds left.

The cut man was tending to his wounds while Ted looked him straight in the eye. "You're being too stiff out there. Alright, look at me. You need to set the pace alright. Use your jab, screw with his rhythm and drop him with body shots."

Mark was far too dazed to take any advice on board and Ted decided to employ a different strategy. "Your kid brothers watching. Your dad's watching. Your mom. Both of them are looking at you right now. Do you know what they want to see? They want to see their son win this fight. You're a Murdock kid. And what do Murdocks never do?"

"We don't quit," Mark said weakly.

Ted shook his head. "Say that again."

"We don't quit."

"Once more!"

"WE DON'T QUIT!"

Ted put in Mark's mouthguard and patted him on the back. "Give him hell kid."

Mark stood up with renewed energy and with the cut on his eye sealed up, he could finally see Wallace clearly. Mark stepped in with a jab which Wallace blocked.

The champion tried to throw a jab of his own but Mark slipped to the side and threw a right hook to his face. Wallace tightened his guard so that his face would be protected which is what Mark wanted.

Mark lightly jabbed at Wallace's guard and suddenly drove his left fist straight into the older fighters liver. Wallace felt like an electric shock went through his body and fell straight to the floor.

It was the first time he's felt pain like this in over a decade and his ageing body was no longer able to withstand it. Mark banged his chest like a gorilla and walked back to his corner.

The crowd roared and enthusiastically begged Wallace to stand up. Matt and Claire were shouting in their seats, telling the champ to stay down.

Wallace got up but his legs gave way the moment he stood and the referee saw no other option but to wave his hands and stop the fight.

Mark stood in the ring with a dumbfounded look on his face. He had no idea what was happening right now. He let out a surprised yelp when his team lifted him up in the air and the only thing he could make out was the word champion among all the noise.

"I won?" Mark asked.

All of his team nodded and he looked down behind the ring to see Ted waving his cane in the air with joy. If Ted was this happy then that could only mean one thing. "Holy shit I won."

Matt and Claire ran up to the stage, not caring that Matt was barely using his cane and gave Mark the biggest hug he had ever received.

Mark hugged Matt and kissed Claire before moving on to Wallace's corner and putting his arm around his shoulder. Wallace lightly tapped Mark in the chest.

"You've won Murdock. Best match I've had in years," the former champ said graciously.

Mark wasn't sure what he said in response but considering that the formerly hostile crowd suddenly started cheering after he stopped speaking it must have been pretty good. A few men walked on with three belts and placed them in his hands.

The reality finally set for Mark. He was the champion. And he couldn't feel more excited.

* * *

Matt covered his ears with a pillow, hearing Mark snore like a drunk panda in the other hotel room. Claire was napping next to his brother but she sounded almost angelic compared to him.

Normally Matt would storm in and yell at Mark, demanding him to keep it down. But he did just fight the best boxer in the world and win, so he felt like he earned some slack.

After the match was over Mark was seen by a doctor. He had torn a bicep, had two cracked ribs and a concussion along with the cuts and bruises on his face. But he should be fine in a few weeks, as long as he didn't exert himself too much.

Matt enjoyed the feeling of the silk bathrobes that the hotel gave him and was chilling out on his king-sized bed. They finally had enough cash to be able to afford to stay in a place like this. Large windows overseeing the city - which Matt didn't really care about but found cool anyway. A bathroom twice the size of his living room and room service that catered to him 24/7.

If this is what rich people lived like he could get used to it. Matt wasn't sure how much cash Mark got for this fight but it was a lot. Plus, with all the brand deals Mark got offered after winning his fight, they would be set for life.

 _If he doesn't blow all the cash on cars or something_ , Matt thought cynically.

Matt could feel himself drifting off to sleep but woke up, hearing the sound of someone cutting glass. He turned his head to his window but the sound did not come from there.

 _Oh, God_.

Matt wrapped a towel over his face and ran out of his room. He reached Marks door and kicked it off its hinges. He could hear Clarie screaming in the corner while Mark was using a nightstand to try and keep three ninja at bay. Matt could taste the blood leaking out of Mark's leg and noticed two piles of ash, indicating that he had already beaten two before Matt came in.

The three remaining ninja turn around and Matt gave them no time to react. He rushed the first ninja and disarmed it of its sword and impaled it through the chest, reducing it to green ash. The second ninja tried to strike Matt in the head with his bo staff but Matt ducked underneath the attack and drove his sword into the head of his opponent.

Matt scanned the room, looking for the third ninja but could hear nothing. He then felt a burning pain in his shoulder as the final ninja kicked him against the wall, opening up his wounds. Matt crossed his arms to stop the ninja from stabbing him in the face with a knife.

The ninja used his knee to hit Matt in the gut which loosened Matt's grip and allowed the ninja to push the knife a hair's breadth away from Matt's face. Matt tried to push back but his arm was still too weak and the Hand's ninja never fatigued.

Both fighters were surprised when a sword pierced the ninja in the back. The ninja moved its gaze away from Matt and saw Claire holding a sword with a terrified expression on her face. Matt used this opportunity to tackle the ninja to the ground and smash his face in with a nearby chair.

Matt stood up completely out of breath and coughed out the gas he inhaled when the final ninja turned to ash. He heard the rattling of metal as Claire stood next to him, shivering like a leaf with the sword still in hand.

He gently took the sword out of her hand and sat her down on the bed.

"You're ok. You're ok. Breath. Alright, just breath," Matt instructed her with a calm voice. He was used to this level of violence. But Claire certainly wasn't.

After making sure Claire was ok Matt made his way to Mark whose leg was bleeding out. Matt tore off a portion of the silk bed sheets and wrapped it around Mark's leg to make an improvised tourniquet.

Matt moved Mark's head around and could feel his swollen brain sloshing around inside his skull.

"Your concussion has gotten worse. I'm gonna ask you some basic questions. What's your name?"

"M-Mark Murdock," he said slowly.

"Do you know who I am?"

Mark looked at him and with some effort managed to let out a laugh.

"I can't take you seriously with that thing over your head," Mark said weakly.

Matt rolled his eyes behind the towel on his head.

"For Pete's sake. Claire, can you come take a look? You're the nurse."

Once Claire composed herself she took a look at Mark for herself while Matt took a look at the Hand's leftover garb. Matt recognised the cloth and realised that it belonged to the elite, red-robed foot soldiers of the Hand.

 _Why're they targeting Mark? Why didn't they send over one of their better fighters?_ Matt thought.

Matt heard the sirens of both cop cars and an ambulance coming towards the hotel and he took the towel off of his head.

 _Lux hasn't decrypted Luthor's drive completely yet. I can't raid their HQ yet. Only other option now is to defend Mark someplace and wait for them to come to me._

Matt rubbed his damaged shoulder. He almost got killed by a foot soldier. If he fought any of the Hand's main fighters in his condition he wouldn't stand a chance. Matt started pacing around the hotel room, feeling a small drop of rage bubbling inside him, hearing his brother moaning in pain.

 _Hate to admit this but I need help._

* * *

 **Mount Justice, December 2nd 2010:**

Aqualad and Artemis were circling each other in the holographic ring in the cave. Wally and Connor were watching eagerly as both of the young fighters were calculating their next move. Wally placed a $10 bet that Kaldur would win and Connor betted on Artemis.

The archer decided to make the first move. She threw a few quick punches which Kaldur blocked and lowered herself to try and sweep his legs. Kaldur responded by stepping back and he ran towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and took her down to the ground and used his superior strength to pin her.

Connor gave Wally a cocky smirk and the speedster reluctantly handed him a $20 dollar bill. Wally made a comment about never betting on a girl, prompting Artemis to hit him on the shoulder for the seventh time that week.

Kaldur started thanking Artemis the opportunity to spar with her but Artemis was annoyed that Kaldur beat her so easily.

"Fighting guys with super-strength is such a pain," Artemis complained.

"You attempted to defeat me in a straight fight. You should have used your speed to outmanoeuvre me," Kaldur explained calmly.

The Zeta tubes activated before Artemis could respond and the entire Team rushed towards the platform when they heard who was entering.

 _ **Recognised, Daredevil B00**_ , the synthetic voice announced.

Matt walked into the cave wearing his new black and red armour, eliciting various responses from the Team.

Robin fist-bumped Matt and made a small joke about him ripping off Batman's look. Wally and M'gann bombarded him with questions about why he was here. Connor simply nodded in Matt's direction while Artemis pulled Wally back so Matt could have some space.

Zatanna whispered to Robin, "You know why he's here?"

Robin shrugged and asked Kaldur the same.

"I assume this isn't a social visit?" Kaldur asked Matt rhetorically.

Daredevil walked towards the centre of the cave and gave the computer some audible instructions. He pulled up a news article about Mark's attack and started to address the Team.

"About six hours ago, my brother was attacked by ninja that worked for the criminal organisation called the Hand."

Kaldur, Artemis and Robin went stiff hearing this. Kaldur and Robin had never dealt with the Hand directly but knew what they were capable of thanks to Matt and they had seen the way Elektra fought and she wasn't even the most skilled member. Artemis heard stories from her dad and if a group was capable of making Sportsmaster cautious, they were definitely dangerous.

Even Wally was stunned but not for the same reason. "That's your brother?" he asked, pointing a finger at the picture of the large African-American man.

"Yeah. Why?" Matt asked.

Wally started to stutter. He wasn't sure if Matt knew his brother was black. Or how the two were even related.

"I mean. He's, you know… And you're… "

Matt smiled and waved his hand.

"I'm messing with you. He's adopted."

Wally sighed in relief and Matt went back to debriefing the Team.

"They'll likely send in higher-ranking members since their first attempt failed. My brother is being kept in an old hospital in Manchester, England and moving him around would be too risky. So, I'm planning on keeping him safe in the hospital and waiting for the Hand to make there move.

"I know that I'm not the Team's leader anymore but I… "

"I'm in," Robin said immediately, raising his hand in the air.

Wally raised his hand as well, "Me too."

The other members of the Team nodded and volunteered to help almost immediately. Matt stood there with a confused expression.

"Seriously? Just like that?"

"You'd do the same for us," Connor said.

Matt took a moment to wrap his head around what his friends were saying.

"If I knew it'd be this easy I wouldn't have bothered writing a speech. That was a waste of twenty minutes," Matt said facetiously.

Doubts began to arise within Matt about whether or not the Team would come out of this alive.

But he shook himself out of that state of mind.

Everyone here knew the risks of this job.

"There are multiple entry points to the hospital. But these are the five that they're most likely to take since they like to minimise civilian casualties," Matt said. A 3D holographic display popped up with the five exits highlighted in red.

"Mark's held up on the top floor at the end of the northeast corridor in a windowless room. So we'll need to evacuate the building of as many patients and staff members as we can. After that we need to hold off the Hand long enough till we can move Mark away in a vehicle while they're distracted," Matt said.

Aqualad considered this plan for a moment. "For this plan to work we will have to stay behind at the hospital while you help your brother escape."

"And we'll need decoy vehicles as well," Robin said.

Zatanna piped in, "I can use my magic to make the getaway cars look the same. Might throw the ninja guys off."

"Wait, wait, wait. I'm not letting you guys fight them on your own while we getaway. That's insane," Matt said, shaking his head.

Aqualad stepped in front of Matt, inches away from his face. "Be that as it may, that decision is no longer yours to make."

Matt and Kaldur continued their staring contest for a few moments and everyone in the Cave could feel the tension between them. Matt knew that this was a tough call and his time in the simulation informed him how moments like this could make or break the mission.

"Fine. But when we make it to the rendezvous point you're pulling the Team out," Matt said.

He gave the computer a few more instructions and the images of the main Hand members popped up. Matt gave the Team a brief rundown of their abilities and skillsets.

Holographic records pertaining to Quake, Psylocke, Bullseye, Davos, Nobu and Lady Shiva appeared in front of the Team. Matt had to give detailed explanations about their powers and abilities since the Cave's database did not have much information about them.

But there was one more member they needed to know about.

"Finally… Elektra Natchios," Matt said hesitantly.

Everyone on the Team except Robin looked around, shocked by what they heard.

"They brought her back to life. Enhanced her strength, speed and healing. She doesn't remember who she is and I doubt Shiva will send her over on this mission but you need to be prepared in the event that she does."

The holograms faded away and Matt cracked his knuckles. He would deal with his crazy love life later.

"We'll go through the plan and their bio's in more detail en route. Now suit up. We have a job to do."

Everyone nodded and went to get changed. Aqualad and Robin decided to stay behind to talk to Matt.

"You sure you're up for this?" Robin asked."

"Resurrection. The level of sorcery required for that is simply… "Aqualad started.

Matt stopped him mid-sentence, "Doesn't matter. Our priority is keeping Mark safe."

"Why are they targeting him anyway?" Robin asked.

"Shiva probably wants me to stop screwing with her plans. They can't kill me so they target my family instead," Matt said almost casually. "I'm going to Zeta over to the hospital. Meet you guys on the roof."

Matt didn't want to have a heart to heart right now.

* * *

 **Manchester, England, December 2nd 2010:**

 _Aqualad. Status_ , Matt thought over the psychic link.

 _No sign of activity on the second floor. Artemis, what's the status on the perimeter?_

Artemis looked around the hospital from her vantage point on a neighbouring building and saw nothing.

 _We're clear up here._

The rest of the Team reported the same on their respective floors. Matt and Kaldur had paired everyone up. Wally and Zatanna patrolled the ground and first floors. Kaldur and Connor patrolled the second and third floors. M'gann and Robin patrolled the fifth floor while Matt was with Mark.

Artemis was stationed on a tall building that had a birds-eye view of the hospital and she was ready to swoop in if she was needed.

Robin had boobie trapped his floor in the event that the Hand managed to get to close to Mark's room. He figured a few tonnes of rock would slow them down.

Unlike their stakeout during the mission where they had to save that doctor from the League of Shadows, things were running rather smoothly tonight. There were no communication errors, no pointless bickering or childish back and forths.

Just some no-nonsense shop talk.

Which was great but Matt always had a sinking feeling when things were this ideal during a mission. Something always went wrong.

Matt did not have to wait long for that to happen. A few minutes after he checked on the Team again he heard a high pitched whine that made him scream and fall to his knees. Even Superboy grabbed his head and shouted out, unable to deal with the pain.

With them occupied, no one was able to smell the flammable gas being funnelled into the floor that Robin and M'gann were patrolling. A spark was ignited and the entire floor was engulfed in flame for a brief second.

Robin covered himself with his cape but he could feel his skin start to peel away from the intense heat. After the inferno ended he looked up to check on M'gann. He ran towards her unconscious form. Her skin was emitting some steam and she was barely breathing.

"Need to call this in. Tell everyone the link's down," Robin said, putting his finger to his ear. "Everyone I - "

His message was cut short since all anyone could hear over the comms was static. Robin grunted in annoyance but stopped, spotting a pink glow in the corner of his eye.

He turned around and saw a young, Asian girl with purple hair, holding a katana with one hand and having a blade made of pink energy in the other. She was surrounded by half a dozen ninja and Robin waved at her awkwardly.

"Any chance you'll let me warn my Team that you're here?" Robin asked, putting on a cheery facade while pulling out a small detonator behind his cape.

Psylocke shook her head.

"Worth a shot," Robin said. He pressed the button and the corridor lit up with the glow of his explosive disks priming themselves.

They all went off, blowing up a portion of the roof, blocking off the staircase, trapping everyone on that floor.

* * *

Artemis saw the explosion and tried to ask someone what had happened but she couldn't. Both the psychic link and the comms were taken out.

She wanted to shoot a line down there and rappel down into the hospital but she felt like someone was watching her. Artemis drew an arrow and turned around, releasing it as she did.

A white glove snatched the arrow out of the air and started to twirl it around like a baton. Artemis frowned when she recognised the man standing in front of her.

"I was hoping to meet Red Arrow. I have a bone to pick with that maggot. Instead, I get _you_ , Sportsmaster's little lass. It's been ages since I last saw you. You've grown up so much," Bullseye said mockingly.

Artemis felt like she needed to shower after hearing Bullseye speak. Guys like him always creeped her out.

She moved her arm back to withdraw another arrow from her quiver and in the time it took to make that motion Bullseye threw the arrow in his hand at blinding speed at Artemis who didn't even register the movement till she felt her bowstring come loose. She looked at her bow and saw the string was severed, presumably by the arrow.

Bullseye threw a dense piece of metal at her forehead and knocked Artemis out. He let out a loud, wolf-like yawn and scratched his back. Artemis had been taken out way too quickly and he was bored out of his mind. He hadn't had a good fight in a long time.

"I took care of the archer. What're you lot up too?" Bullseye asked over his communication device.

He heard Psylocke curse in Japanese, "Little busy here," she said as she missed another strike. Robin was far more agile than she initially thought.

"Quake?" Bullseye asked.

"One second," she replied. She was busy vibrating the air near Zatanna's mouth to distort her words so that her magic wouldn't work while simultaneously making the air around herself so volatile that Kid Flash couldn't try grabbing her at super speed without horribly injuring himself.

Needless to say, she was busy.

Bullseye was about to contact Davos but decided against it. He did not want to hear another lecture about him being a distraction in the field. He sat on the edge of the rooftop with his eyes glued to the hospital below.

If anyone tried to get out or in. He would know.

* * *

"Superboy," Aqualad said with concern as his friend was curled up in a ball, shaking like a leaf. He has never seen a mission go south so quickly before. The Hand took them all by surprise and with their means of communication severed, Aqualad didn't know what the current status of his teammates was.

Kaldur had been fighting off nine ninja on his own. He had taken on numbers twice as large before but these Hand ninja were far deadlier than most surface henchmen. He pushed Connor out of the way of a few shuriken and formed a water-based shield to cover both of them. The Hand ninja all had slightly enchanted weapons and could cut through Connors skin.

Aqualad used his second water bearer to shoot small pellets of water at the ninja, making them dodge around, briefly interrupting the barrage of shuriken. One of the ninjas tried to sneak behind Kaldur but he saw it moving.

The ninja's arm was severed from its body and it saw that Aqualad had formed a sword with his water bearer. Aqualad then decapitated the ninja, reducing it to dust.

Aqualad then got rid of the shield and formed two large water whips. He entrapped two of the ninja in his whips and swung them around, using them to hit the other ninja in the corridor.

After a minute of doing this, all but one ninja were reduced to piles of wet ash. The last one ducked under the water whips and swung its sword and Aqualad used his forearm to block it.

Blood dripped down the Atlantans arm and the ninja looked at Kaldur with its dead, yellow eyes. Kaldur reversed the grip of his sword and drove it downwards into the ninja's belly. The ninja then found itself being kicked out of a window and falling to the ground.

Aqualad wiped the blood off of his arm and checked the wound. His skin was thicker than a normal humans so the sword didn't cut too deep.

Superboy started to scream even louder. He said that the noise in his ear was getting louder and pointed his finger behind Aqualad.

Kaldur turned around and saw Davos standing there with a grim expression behind his marks and with his arms crossed. Davos stared at Kaldur like a scientist might a new species of animal.

"I've never faced an Atlantean before. The elders of K'un L'un have spoken of your people in such high regard," Davos said respectfully.

Kaldur was quite surprised by his enemies candour. He expected the Hand members to be sadistic brutes with no honour.

"I thought K'un L'un was a myth."

"Until Aquaman made his presence known, I thought the same of Atlantis," Davos said. He removed a small golf ball-sized device from his pouch and placed it on a window sill. "This device is what's rendering your Kryptonian friend a cripple. You satisfy me and I will deactivate it."

Davos bowed in respect and readied his arms in a traditional combat stance. Kaldur nodded to accept the challenge and formed a large hammer with his water bearers.

Aqualad leapt at Davos with great speed and slammed his hammer into the ground. He looked to his left and saw the Davos had effortlessly sidestepped the attack. Aqualad got up and swung his hammer at Davos again, aiming for his shoulder, head and knees.

Davos had his hands held behind his back as he effortlessly bobbed and weaved his body, avoiding Kaldur's assault. Aqualad was growing desperate. He started to put more force into his attacks and swung wider and wider.

This was the opening that Davos was looking for. The older fighter struck Aqualad in the gills and then in the chest.

Aqualad dropped his water bearers and held his neck. He could feel his airways closing up and his face started to become swollen and purple. His neck and head weren't getting enough oxygen.

Davos grabbed Aqualad by the head and slammed him into the ground multiple times till the tiles on the floor broke down into a fine powder. He left the Atlantean unceremoniously on the ground, bleeding from his mouth.

"That was disappointing," Davos said. He looked at the sonic device he placed at the window sill and picked it up. "Let's see if the alien fares better."

The shrieking in Connor's ears stopped and he saw Kaldur laying on the ground. He looked at Davos in anger and focused all his attention on him.

"You shouldn't have turned that thing off. Now I'm gonna rip you in half," Connor said, eagerly cracking his knuckles.

Davos stood there calmly. Not even registering Connor's threat.

This angered Connor even more. Davos expected Superboy to rush him like a bull but instead, Connor stood up, extended his arms in Davos' direction and clapped his hands together as fast as possible.

A large shockwave spread throughout the corridor, shattering glass and forming a large rush of air that was headed straight for Davos.

The immortal fighter was launched in the air and through a pillar. A small amount of rubble fell on top of him and his ears were ringing like a bell. Davos laid down on the ground and made no effort to get up.

He could taste the blood pooling in his mouth and he could feel that one of his arms was dislocated. Connor scanned Davos with his x-ray vision and smiled. He always wanted to try that move.

Connor walked towards Davos and effortlessly brushed the rubble aside. He picked him up by the collar and cocked his fist back, ready to knock Davos out.

"Any last words?" Connor asked.

"You talk too much," Davos said. Connor looked down and saw Davos' fist glowing a burning, bright purple.

Davos used his fist to hit Connor in the wrist, freeing him from his grasp. Connor hissed in pain and held his wrist. Much to his surprise, he saw that the bones in his wrist were broken.

He had never broken anything before.

Davos could feel the power in his fist straining his entire body. He needed to gather as much energy as he could to hurt Connor and he would not be able to sustain his power for long. Davos sprinted towards Connor and landed a quick, clean shot to Connor's face.

Connor's vision went completely black and the entire hospital shook from the impact as Connor was sent flying through multiple walls of the hospital, straight through another building. Davos peered into the series of massive holes that he created and saw that a small section of the building Superboy landed in had collapsed and fell straight on top of him.

* * *

Bullseye almost fell off of the roof of his own building when he saw Connor flying out of the hospital.

"Remind me never to piss you off Davos," Bullseye said over the comms.

"You do that just by talking," Davos said in kind.

Aqualad crawled towards Davos and placed his hand on his ankle. His tattoos lit up and he sent a large current through Davos' body, making him convulse in pain.

Davos used his free leg to kick Aqualad in the face and repeatedly punched Kaldur in the face till it was so swollen up that Davos could barely recognise him.

He walked away from Kaldur and slumped against a wall. It would be some time till he would have the energy to get back in the fight.

* * *

The shockwave from Davos' punch affected the other fights as well. A large rock fell on top of Kid Flash's head knocking him out, leaving Zatanna alone in fighting Quake.

A piece of rubble fell on top of Psylocke's leg, pinning her to the ground. Which was a massive relief to Robin since he was cut multiple times? His cape was torn to ribbons and his arms and chest were covered in small cuts.

Psylocke's eyes glowed pink and a butterfly wing-shaped pattern formed on her head. Robin felt his mind warp and he was transported into a psychic battlefield.

He looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a Japanese village. It was the middle of the night and there were cherry blossom petals falling from the trees.

Robin saw that his injuries were gone and his costume restored.

 _Maybe this psychic warfare thing isn't that bad,_ he thought.

 _Think again_ , a female voice said.

Psylocke's body materialised in front of Robin, who was also restored to full health.

Robin took a look at his surroundings and saw two small graves near a hut-like house.

 _Let me guess. You used to live here_ , Robin thought.

Psylocke stayed mute.

 _Guessing you wanted a home-field advantage. But you're technically inside my head. Your childhood home isn't going to mean much to me._

Robin felt something on his arm. He looked at it and saw that it was completely severed off oh his body. His body couldn't even register the shock since within the blink of an eye the arm grew back on his body.

 _What the -,_ Robin's thought was interrupted by him falling to the floor after his legs were chopped off of his body. But after a moment he was back on his feet looking at Psylocke.

 _True. This is your mind but this is my illusion. Your psychic defences are pathetic. All I have to do is keep you occupied till your real body bleeds out_ , Psylocke said mentally.

Minutes pass by like this. With an unknown energy cutting pieces off of Robin and the same presence kept restoring him back to normal. But every time he came back he could feel his mind slipping. Like part of him was being lost every time he came back.

Even in this psychic realm, Robin could feel his body giving up on him. He was losing a lot of blood in the real world and that was affecting him here.

Psylocke regarded Robin with an amused look, _You sidekicks really are nothing without your mentors._

 _I wouldn't be so sure,_ another voice said behind Robin.

Both fighters look to see who it was and saw Miss Martian appear near Robin.

Psylocke suddenly froze. She was not expecting her to recover so soon.

 _Your body was burnt to a crisp. You won't be able to stay awake for more than a minute,_ Psylocke thought.

Miss Martian's eyes glowed green and a cocky smirk appeared on her face.

 _A minute's all I need._

Psylocke closed her eyes as a large, bright light shined on her face. Two balls of energy started to circle around her.

They emitted large beams at her that started to rapidly destroy Psylocke's psychic body. She screamed in horror as she felt her presence fade away from Robin's mind like a dying fire.

The three of them wake up in the real world, drenched in sweat and deathly pale. Psylocke's leg was numb from being underneath the rubble, M'gann completely lost consciousness from the effort she took to save Robin.

Robin was barely awake. He lost far too much blood. He dragged himself across the floor, over bent metal and shattered concrete that tore into his wounds.

He took out an escrima stick from his belt when he reached Psylocke and hit her on the back of the head. Knocking the assassin out. Robin then took out his medical kit from his belt and started treating his wounds.

Robin almost fell unconscious from using up the energy he needed to open up his medkit. He gritted his teeth and worked with his exhausted muscles to apply antiseptic to his cuts. He would need to patch himself up as best as he could before he inevitably passed out.

* * *

Another pigeon fell out of the sky as Bullseye tossed a stone at the latest bird that had the misfortune of flying over him. None of his Team had reported in for fifteen minutes.

Quake had thrown Zatanna into a wall, finally beating her and Davos flipped Bullseye off through a window half an hour ago. But there was no sign of Daredevil.

Everyone except Bullseye was either exhausted or presumably taken out in Psylocke's case. But even then, waiting for his Team to weaken his opponents wasn't Daredevil's style. Plus, there was no guarantee he could beat them all on his own, even if they were injured.

Bullseye heard an engine sputtering to life near the hospital and saw three vehicles drive away in three different directions from the hospital. They were all old Chevrolet's of the same make and model.

One of them probably had Daredevil and his brother inside while the other two were decoys. But which one?

The first one to escape started to drive into a different lane of traffic for a few seconds before quickly switching back to its original lane. While the other two were being driven perfectly.

Too perfectly.

"Three cars just exited the premises. I'll go after the one heading northeast. I'm sending in some of the ninja to go after the other two," Bullseye said over the comms.

He pulled out a grapple gun and shot a line in the direction of his target. An eager smile crept itself on Bullseye's face.

"It's been too long Devil."

* * *

"Stop short shifting. You're making us slow down," Marks said in the back of the ambulance. He was holding on to the side of his gurney for dear life. Matt's driving was erratic even during the best of days.

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Matt shouted back. He hated driving. Everything sounded so distorted when he was travelling at a high speed. The air rushing past the vehicle tended to drown out any other sounds he could make out along with other stimuli like smells.

On top of that, he was driving with a manual gearbox. Even people who could see would have trouble driving this thing without the threat of ninja coming after them.

Mark almost fell off his gurney i the back of the ambulance when Matt violently swerved out of the way of an old lady crossing the road. He grabbed his stitches and felt like he was being stabbed again.

"Who taught you how to drive?"

"Pretty sure that was you bro," Matt responded indignantly.

Matt turned left and started to ascend on top of a bridge. They'd reach a highway - or motorway as they said in England - in a few miles. The Bioship would be parked at a location on the side of the road and Matt would fly himself and Mark away to safety.

 _Hope the Team's ok_ , Matt thought wistfully. He knew was deluding himself, however. He spent the entire night hearing his friends get the crap kicked out of them by the Hand while he waited for the right time to drive away. Sure, they managed to get a few good licks in but the Hand would recover quickly.

Matt was so engrossed with his thoughts that he failed to notice a fast-moving projectile moving towards his windscreen. The object penetrated the windshield and hit Matt in the middle of his forehead with enough force to make him take his hands off of the steering wheel.

One of the tires burst after that and the vehicle crashed straight into a street light and Matt was slammed into an airbag which exploded out of the steering wheel. The magic that made the ambulance look like a car slowly faded away, revealing it's true form. Matt had broken his nose from the impact and was bleeding over the now deflated airbag.

Whoever threw that object needed to have aimed higher to hit Matt since they would have had to compensate for the fact that ambulances have their windshields positioned much higher than that of a car. Matt unbuckled himself slowly and opened the ambulance door, falling out of his seat on to the road below.

Matt could hear footsteps approaching him, walking atop the broken shards of glass. The smell of old cologne and deodorant filled his nostrils and Matt could sense the muscles in the man's face contract into a pretentious smile.

"You really have lost your edge haven't you lad," Bullseye said before soccer kicking Matt in the jaw. Much to Bullseye's displeasure Matt didn't get back up and start fighting him like he would have done in the past. Instead, he laid on the floor, licking his bloody lips.

Bullseye shook his head and walked to the back of the ambulance, pulling out two small shuriken. If beating him up wouldn't bring the Devil out maybe killing another loved one would.

The back doors of the ambulance opened abruptly before Bullseye even touched them and Mark ran straight out and started slamming his fists into Bullseye.

The Irish assassin was astounded. Even in Marks current state every punch he threw hit a vital part of his body and with more force than any non-metahuman had ever hit him with. Mark landed two hooks on Bullseye's jaw which knocked the assassin to the ground.

Bullseye's vision was starting to blur. If he took anymore hits from Mark he would be taken out for sure. Mark's stitches had already torn up from the crash and the cut above his eye had reopened as well, sending a stream of blood down his eye, partially blinding him.

If he didn't finish this fight immediately, his extensive wounds would do it for him. Mark could vaguely make out the visage of Bullseye trying to pick himself up from the ground and he knew that this was his only chance.

Mark walked towards Bullseye as fast as he could and the sight of the lumbering boxer heading towards him put Bullseye on edge. He pulled out a knife from his belt, ready to throw it into Mark's throat but Matt took out his Billy club and threw it at Bullseye's hand, disarming him.

Bullseye rolled to the side to avoid a chopping right from Mark and picked up Matt's Billy club. He flicked his wrist and threw Matt's weapon at Mark which penetrated his body, right below the rib cage.

Mark stumbled backwards and could feel his insides shift and loosen up. Matt shot straight off of the ground, hearing his brother fall with a rocking thud.

Matt tasted the iron in Marks blood and that lit a spark inside of him. He could feel his heart banging against his chest and the adrenaline flooding his system. His breathing became so fast that he felt like his lungs would explode at any minute and his fists were trembling.

Not due to sadness. But due to pure, unadulterated rage.

Something he had not felt in a long time.

"Damn. That was way too easy," Bullseye said casually.

Matt snapped. He let out a primal scream and ran towards Bullseye and picked him up over his head and ran towards the railing of the bridge. Matt threw them both off of the bridge, not caring if either of them died and they ended up landing on the roof of a van, which collapsed completely underneath the two.

The sound of both their bones snapping filled Matt's ears but that did not stop him. He pushed Bullseye onto the ground and flipped in the air, kicking Bullseye straight in the chest.

Bullseye was thrust straight into a car and Matt kept up with his onslaught by delivering a flying knee into Bullseye's chest, breaking one of Bullseye's shoulders, fracturing a few of his ribs and forming a large dent in the metal of the car behind him. Bulleye dragged his one good hand across the ground to pick up a few shards of glass which he threw at Matt.

When Matt tried to shift his body weight to flip out of the way a sharp pain entered his leg and his knee nearly buckled. He had injured himself from the fall and Bullseye would capitalize on that maliciously.

The shards hit Matt in the head, his previously injured shoulder and his newly injured knee. Each glass piece shattered violently on impact. Chipping through Matt's armour and lacerating his skin.

Despite the crippling pain, Matt stood there like a monolith. Those hits would have brought down almost anyone else but Matt was being fueled by an endless pool of anger. Nothing less than a killing blow would put him down now.

A frustrated Bullseye slammed himself into Matt and took them both on the ground. He pulled out Matt's second Billy club from it's compartment and kicked Matt away to put some distance between them.

Bullseye threw the Billy club at Matt's head and Matt ducked underneath it, feeling it slice the air above him. The Billy club ricocheted off of a wall and bounced back onto the back of Matt's head which staggered him. Bullseye then threw it at and angle, making it hit the side of Matt's helmet, breaking a large chunk out of it.

Bullseye then threw it on the ground, richocetting it into Matt's chin. Matt's brain rattled against his skull and his senses started to go haywire.

Everything sounded very hazy and muted. Matt grabbed his head and slowed down his breathing, calming himself so that he could focus on his surroundings.

Bullseye went closer to Matt and kicked him in the knee, making him fall to the ground. Matt bit his lip, not wanting to let out any cries that might reveal how much pain he was in.

Matt felt his broken helmet being ripped off of his head and two powerful hands wrapped around his throat. He started to gag when Bullseye started to apply pressure and the stench of his breath was the only thing keeping Matt alert.

"This is how it's meant to be lad. You and me. Fighting till the bitter end. This was our destiny," Bullseye said in a crazed tone of voice.

Matt heard the desperation in Bullseye's voice and found it to be pathetic. He grabbed Bullseye's broken shoulder and squeezed, taking great pleasure in hearing his cracking bones and tearing tendons.

Bullseye bellowed out and Matt struck him in the nose which finally made the assassin get off of Matt.

Matt stood up and Bullseye was bewildered by the change in Matt's face. He could still see the rage in his eyes but the rest of his face looked neutral, almost relaxed and the rest of his body seemed looser as well.

"I looked you up you know. After you killed Elektra. I wanted to hunt you down after what you did and I found out all about you and your fucked up family _Dex_ ," Matt said with a pleased smirk.

Bullseye fiddled with his belt, trying to find something to throw at Matt but Matt calmly swiped the object out of his hand and popped a quick jab into Bullseye's face. Bullseye shook his head and swung at Matt who casually raised his arm to block the attack and kicked Bullseye in the thigh, making him skip backwards on one leg.

"I know how daddy used to beat you. How your whore of a mother left you and that your sister jumped off your roof after she saw you kill your old man," Matt said coldly.

Bullseye covered his ears with his hands. "Shut up. Shut up," he said frantically.

Matt struck him in the neck and pinned him against the wall. "You visit your daddy's grave every year on the day your sister died. I hear you cry like a little bitch when you do," Matt said.

He could taste the salt from the tears forming in the corner of Bullseye's eyes. "What's wrong Dex?" Matt teased spitefully. "Do you miss daddy? Feeling guilty?"

Matt headbutted Bullseye and pushed him to the floor. He put his knee on his chest and Matt ripped his mask off.

"We're not destined to do jack shit. You're nothing to me," Matt spar out angrily. He traced his finger over Bullseye's forehead and noticed a tattoo there.

Three concentric circles forming a target. Or more accurately a Bullseye.

"What's this? Your logo?" Matt asks.

"It's your… " Bullseye began but Matt slapped him in the face, shutting him up.

"Bet you think it makes you look memorable. I'll give you something to remember," Matt said menacingly. He takes out one of Bullseye's shuriken and traces a circle around the outermost circle of Bullseye's tattoo.

"This one's for Elektra," Matt said, enjoying the feeling of Bullseye writhing underneath him while he cut into his flesh.

Matt then cut into the second circle, "This one's for my brother."

Blood was leaking out of Bullseye's forehead and Matt's hand almost slipped because of it. But he wasn't finished yet.

"This last one. The centre point. It's for when you realise that no one cares about you. _That I don't care about you!_ Your family hated you. Ra's al Ghul used you and Shiva's doing the same thing."

Matt let Bullseye go and stood up. All Bullseye could see through the blood in his eyes was a black silhouette and the apathetic look in Matt's eyes.

"When that scars over and you realise that your life was meaningless you'll come crawling back to me. Begging me to end you. But I won't. And when that happens, maybe you'll have the guts to finally end your miserable existence," Matt said turning away from him.

Bullseye was still conscious but Matt didn't care. Fighting him was a waste of time.

He heard Bullseye pull out a small pistol from his belt but Matt didn't stur.

Even when Bullseye cocked the gun and aimed it straight for Matt's head, he didn't react. Instead, Matt chose to calmly walk away.

Bullseye felt empty.

Matt's words cut through him worse than any blade ever could. And to top it all off, Matt ignored him.

Bullseye placed the barrel of the gun under his chin. He closed his eyes, hoping that Matt would tackle him to the ground or disarm him. He did save Bullseye from falling off a skyscraper in Taipei after all.

But nothing happened. No one came to help him.

Without waiting another moment Bullseye pulled the trigger and splattered his brains all across the street. The shot echoed across the neighbourhood and Matt heard people panicking in their homes.

Matt shot his line up and grappled up to the bridge. He felt nothing after the death of his rival. No remorse, no guilt, no sense of satisfaction.

Nothing.

He just let another human being kill himself and it did not affect him. Matt couldn't think of a greater sin.

* * *

Matt almost fell over when he reached the top of the bridge. He placed his hand on his head and remembered that he wasn't wearing his helmet any more.

But that meant nothing to Matt after he heard someone coughing on the bridge. Matt ran towards Mark and placed his head on his lap.

Mark was grasping on the Billy club that was poking out of his belly and Matt was desperately going through his head, trying to think of a way to heal Mark.

Tears started to stream down Matt's face and Mark gently wiped them away. Matt turned his face in his brother's direction. He could hear his heartbeat slowly fading away.

"No. Please stay awake," Matt pleaded desperately.

Mark closed his eyes as his life left his body and Matt clung onto the body. He started to cry uncontrollably into Mark's chest and rocked his body back and forth.

Matt let out a mournful scream and a sudden realisation came over him. He was the last member of his family. The last person who ever loved him was now gone.

Now he truly was alone.

A large gush of air swept over Matt as the Bioship flew overhead. It formed a ramp and Artemis walked down it. She was the only member of the Team who wasn't horribly injured.

She saw Matt holding his brother in his arms and carefully approached him.

"Matt… " she said, unsure about how blunt she needed to be. "Matt, We have to leave."

Matt shook his head and held his brother's body closer to him.

Sirens blared in the distance and Artemis placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. But we have to go."

Matt got up and tried to pick up Mark but he lost balance immediately. His body was too weak to move him. "W-we can't leave him here," Matt said.

"He's too heavy to carry," Artemis said, unable to believe she had to say this. "I know that this is hard but… "

Artemis gasped as Matt grabbed her by the neck. "I AM NOT LEAVING HIM," Matt said aggressively.

Matt let her go after Artemis jabbed him in the neck with a needle. Matt could feel the burn of the horse tranquilizer being released into his system and Artemis apologized as he blacked out.

* * *

When Matt opened his eyes, he had hoped that the events that he had witnessed had been the result of another simulation. Maybe this was another test. That was the only way he could rationalise how messed up his situation was.

But as he scanned his surroundings, he noticed that he was in the med bay at the Cave. Connor, Kaldur and M'gann were on life support unique to their respective physiologies. Dick was lying in bed, covered with bandages and undergoing a blood transfusion and Wally was in bed with his leg in a cast.

Zatanna was doing some form of healing meditation and Artemis was sat in a chair, unaware that Matt had just woken up.

Matt pulled out all the wires that connected him to the health monitors and Artemis got out of her chair, hearing his ECG flatline.

"You can't be out of bed," Artemis said, trying to hold back Matt. "You need to rest."

"What're you gonna do? Drug me?" Matt asked facetiously.

Artemis let go of him. "Alright, I deserve that. But the cops were coming and I… "

"Save it. Doesn't matter. What happened to Marks body?"

"The Manchester police department have him in a morgue," Artemis said, lowering her head.

"Matt. I'm so sorry."

Matt's face sunk and he turned his back on Artemis.

"I'm an idiot," Matt said under his breath. He limped towards the Zeta platform and Artemis ran in front of him.

"This wasn't your fault," she said.

"I know that!" Matt shouted out. "I did everything I could and it all turned to shit anyway."

Matt walked into the Zeta portal and Artemis cried out to him. "You shouldn't be alone right now."

 _I already am_ , Matt thought before being transported away.

* * *

 **Manchester, England, December 3rd 2010:**

When the police broke the news to Claire, she refused to believe it. She couldn't accept that the strongest man she knew was found dead on the street like a dog.

But when she saw the body her entire world shattered. Yesterday the two of them were celebrating him becoming world champion and now he was lying dead on a cold slab.

He didn't even die in the city where he was born.

The doors to the morgue opened and she saw Matt next to a police officer. After the officer left Matt almost collapsed under his own weight. Luckily Claire was close enough to catch him.

"Jesus Matt," Claire said. Matt's face was almost as pale as some of the bodies in the morgue. He was barely able to hold on to his cane and was clearly bleeding badly underneath his heavy clothing.

Matt motioned in Mark's direction and Claire nodded, whipping away a few tears. She guided him towards Mark's body and he placed his hands on his bruised face.

 _This is real,_ Matt thought. _He's really dead._

Matt almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a third heartbeat in the room.

He touched Mark's chest but it wasn't coming from there. Matt concentrated and managed to deduce that the sound was coming from Claire's belly.

"Claire," Matt said softly.

"Yeah?" she asked.

 _She doesn't know._

Claire looked at Marks body again and burst into tears. Matt awkwardly put his arms around her as she cried into his shoulder.

The world went blank for a moment and Matt focused on the heartbeat of Claire's baby before blacking out.

This was the last thing he needed.

Hope.

* * *

 **I am done with the chapter. Yay. Sorry, this took so long to come out but I things have been hectic in my real life and writing these emotional chapters is really draining.**

 **Quite a few changes have happened to Matt this chapter. Death of his brother. Bullseye's suicide.**

 **I took a lot of inspiration from Bendis' and Kevin Smith's run.**

 **The next chapter will be a bit of a breather and hopefully comes out in two weeks.**

 **Now I want to respond to the comments:**

 **TheKike chapter: Incredible, but seriously Sabertooth, the wolverine villain, I don't remember Daredevil facing him, but hey, the good thing is coming now if I hope Matt returns with the team, he really needs them, a pitched battle is approaching, but if you're going to put Trigon, you should also put Raven, she's the only one who can seal it Keep it up.**

 **Me: Yeah. Most of the villains I know from Marvel and DC are either too OP for Daredevil or I've already used them so Sabertooth seemed to be a good choice.**

 **Matt kinda returned to the Team and a massive battle will come up soon.**

 **See you all later.**

 **Hope you have a good day!**


	33. Chapter 33

**Epiphany:**

 **New York, Hell's Kitchen, December 3rd 2010:**

Performing rites at funerals are one of the many responsibilities of a priest. Father Lanthom had always questioned the traditional interpretation of scripture which earned him the ire of many of his contemporaries.

But one thing he always believed in was life after death. That your deeds on this earth would be judged fairly and you would be punished or rewarded accordingly. He often wondered why he rarely questioned that belief like he did several others.

But on days like this, it was very clear.

Believing that the people you care about did not suffer needlessly and that their death served a purpose, whatever that maybe is far more comforting than believing that they were gone forever and end up as nothing more than worm food.

Claire held her belly as Marks coffin was lowered into the ground. Even through her black veil, you could see the tears streaming down her face.

All of Matt's friends were in attendance that morning and were wearing black.

Lux, Britt Jr and the entire Team showed up to pay their respects.

Even Ted Grant showed up to bury the belts his protege won with such hard work along with the body. The old boxer saw the sullen look on the Team's faces.

Funerals were never fun affairs and being nearly a century old, Ted had attended quite a few of them. The feeling of guilt was common. You tend to regret things you might have said and reflect on times you cherished and the realisation that you will never see this person again slaps you in the face.

But the Team felt like they could have done more to save Mark, despite barely surviving themselves. Claire thanked Father Lanthom after the service was done and she looked back to see the looks on the Team's faces.

None dared to look her in the eye and they all felt anxious when Claire started walking towards them.

Kaldur let out a deep breath and stepped forward to face Claire. He was the Team's leader. He would deal with the consequences of their actions.

"Miss Temple. I am sorry for your loss," Kaldur said with a solemn voice.

An awkward pause followed when Claire did not respond. She saw how bruised these teenagers were and while part of her wanted to scream and blame them for getting herself and Mark involved in conflicts like this she knew that they were hurt badly protecting Mark.

"Thank you," she managed to say before Ted escorted her indoors.

"I knew we should have brought flowers," Wally muttered.

Artemis elbowed him in the arm but it was gentle. They all needed to deal with their feelings in their own way.

Lux and Britt see the Team and two groups of friends just stare at each other.

"I'm guessing you're Matt's super friends," Britt said.

No one on the Team responded.

"This secret ID thing's annoying," Lux muttered, wiping off the mascara that dripped down her tear soken face. "Have any of you seen Matt?"

"No. I can't see him anywhere," Connor said, scanning the entire graveyard and the nearby buildings with his enhanced vision.

Though he did spot another figure overseeing the funeral standing on top of a distant building. It was a girl wearing a black ninja outfit with emerald green eyes. Connor recognised who it was from the image he saw from the files on the Hand.

 _So that Elektra chick's here but not Matt? Where is he?_

* * *

"Another," Matt blurted out, pointing his glass at the bartender. The taste of alcohol bittered his tongue and burned his throat but that did not matter to him.

The bartender grabbed the glass out of Matt's hands.

"That's all you're having kid," she said, slamming the glass down on the counter with her meaty hands.

"C'mon Josey. I haven't had _that_ much," Matt said, slurring his words.

"You emptied out three entire bottles of scotch. You drink any more and I'll have to call an ambulance."

He stood up to protest but he almost tripped over his own legs. Josie looked around the desolate bar and was glad that Matt wasn't making a fool out of himself in front of any customers.

"Sorry but you need to leave," Josie said, pointing at the door.

Matt sat on the ground and crossed his arms like a pouty child.

"I want another drink," he whined.

Josie picked him off of the ground and guided him towards the door despite Matt's protests. He offered to double her payment but she declined. No amount of cash was worth having a drunk teenager empty out her stock.

"Go, home kid," Josie said, slamming the cracked black door in his face.

"I don't have one," Matt muttered. He licked his lips and spat on the doorstep of the bar.

Matt eagerly raised his nose in the air, salivating as he detected the scent of alcohol elsewhere. He stumbled around, narrowly avoiding a pole and found the source of the alcohol.

A homeless man's flask.

Matt could hear the amber drops trickling down the man's shaggy beard as he took a swig from his flask. He straightened himself up and rubbed his red nose before engaging with the homeless man.

"Can I have some?" Matt asked somewhat frantically.

The man eyed Matt curiously and popped the lid back on his flask. "You're too young son," he said with a grizzled voice. Matt frowned as the homeless man put the flash away in his torn satchel and walked away from him.

Matt's head was dripping with sweat and his chest felt congested. He did not want to remember the events of the other night. He wanted to be rid of his pain, even if for just a second.

"Come on man," Matt pleaded. "I have cash."

He pulled out a roll of hundred dollar bills and the homeless man perked up for a moment. A maniacal look took shape on Matt's face and the man froze. He swatted the cash out of Matt's hand and ran away from the teenager.

Matt tried to run after him but he fell face-first onto the ground. He could taste the dirt on the floor and heard the blood seeping out of his wounds.

The bandages that he had wrapped across his body were stained with blood from days past and were on the verge of being infected. Matt could practically feel his flesh starting to turn rancid.

People walked past Matt and occasionally glanced in his direction but no one stopped to help him.

"You're all here because of me! I saved all of you," Matt shouted out like a madman still lying down.

No one listened to his rambling and minded their own business. Matt rolled on to his back and let out a few choice words before picking himself up.

Matt felt a prick in his neck and he fell straight back on the ground.

* * *

A torrent of water crashing against rock raged on in the distance and the smell of salt filled the air. Matt's stirred on his straw bed as the hardwood floor made his back ache. He woke up and his head felt like it was made of lead.

Matt threw the silk covers off of him and he sat straight up, rubbing his head. He scanned his surroundings. He was in the corner of a small, wooden hut and he could hear the ocean in the distance. Matt touched the ground and felt small grains of sand roll under his fingers, indicating that he was near the shore.

Fresh bandages had been applied to his wounds and for a moment he felt like he was back at home and was expecting Mark to be sitting next to him. Waiting to scold him for being a reckless idiot.

Matt was half right. There was someone sitting in the corner but it wasn't his brother.

Goosebumps formed on Matt's arms when he recognised the man's heartbeat. There were many things he wanted to ask. Like where he was taken to and what he was doing here but all that was secondary.

There was one question that seemed to be the most relevant in this situation.

"Where the hell were you?" Matt asked, fuming with anger.

The old man sat silently in the corner, waiting for Matt to speak again.

"I'm guessing you know what happened to my brother. After all we've been through you didn't even think about calling me. Warning me in some cryptic bullshit ninja way that the Hand were after him?"

The man stayed silent and crossed his arms.

Matt scoffed, "Why'd you bring me here Kato?"

When Kato refused to speak again Matt laughed. "I'm glad we had this talk," he said sarcastically. Matt got off of the floor and made his way towards the huts exit.

"Disappointing," Kato said softly.

Matt froze. He turned around, hoping that he misheard what his mentor had said.

"What?" Matt asked sceptically.

Kato got out of his chair and stood in front of Matt. "I moulded you into a weapon. A soldier and the first thing you do when your life gets hard is to miss your own brothers funeral and get drunk like a street urchin. Wouldn't you be disappointed if you were me?" Kato asked walking in front of Matt.

Matt shoved Kato back, "None of this wouldn't have happened if I didn't meet you."

"So it's my fault then?" Kato asked, inching closer to Matt.

"Yeah it is. I could have had a normal life. Had normal problems but nope. You trained me to be a _weapon_ , whatever that means. Now they're all gone. All because I wanted to fight the Hand," Matt said, with tears forming in his eyes.

Kato craned his head, as if he were a bird, observing it's chick. He wraps his arms around Matt in the most gentle hug he had ever received.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Kato said sincerely.

Matt growled, unwilling to let out any more emotion. He didn't want to look any weaker.

Kato sighed. "Forget your training for once. Allow yourself to grieve."

The smell of wet salt entered Kato's nostrils. Not due to the sea but thanks to the torrent that was gushing down Matt's face.

It was as if a dam had burst and every ounce of pain he felt was let out at once.

* * *

Matt woke up with a startle after ice-cold water was dumped on his face. He blew his nose and turned his head around looking for Kato's heartbeat.

"I've prepared breakfast," Kato said, placing a bucket on the floor.

"Good morning to you too," Matt responded glibly. He took off his wet shirt and stepped outside the hut, raised his arms in the air and let out a yawn.

He heard the cluttering of various plates and pots as Kato set a table a few feet away from the shore. Now that Matt was outside he could truly appreciate the beauty of his surroundings.

The water washing in and out was soothing to hear and the cool breeze in the morning refreshed Matt completely. He almost forgot his rude awakening from a few minutes past.

"Come over here and eat, I'm not feeding you," Kato said, ruining his brief moment of peace.

The meal consisted of tofu, rice, sweet potatoes and some form of root. All of which made Matt salivate.

Matt went to grab a plate when Kato smacked his hand away.

"Oh yeah. _Itadakimasu_ ," Matt said loudly. The Japanese phrase for 'I will receive'.

The two start eating and Matt was surprised by how good the food tasted. Kato usually never bothered with any form of seasoning, stating that food was sustenance and that there was no point in wasting time dressing it up. Since Kato obviously broke that rule for the meal today probably meant that Matt was going to face some unbelievably tough challenge that would drive most people crazy.

"Where are we?" Matt asked.

"Okinawa," Kato responded.

"Why'd you drag me here?"

"To finish your training," Kato stated like it was obvious.

"Uh-huh. Think you're a little late for that."

"Normally I'd agree with you. But we haven't much time. The Hand are only weeks away from releasing Trigon and we need every asset to stop them."

"We never really got to that part. Why the hell does the Hand want to resurrect a demon?"

Kato finished his meal and gripped his plate tightly.

"Shiva values strength above all else. Not just of the body but of character as well. She believes the Trigon will rid the world of the weak so that the strong can dominate the world."

"Why kill Elektra then?"

Kato hesitated for a moment. "She's a black sky. A human capable of hosting a demon long enough for it to manifest in our world. Apparently, killing the host is a necessary part of that process."

The cogs in Matt's head started to turn. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"That's why she had her killed?" Matt said coldly.

"In Shiva's mind, she was probably doing Elektra a favour by making her stronger. Still, let's not get distracted by such trivialities," Kato said.

He swiftly got up and walked into a nearby coconut tree plantation. Matt hurried along behind him. Even at full health, he would have struggled to keep up with the old man.

Matt heard the large leaves swaying and straining against the sea breeze. He could hear a colony of ants half a mile away tunnelling through the ground and the sound of birds flapping their wings, propelling then through the air.

But he couldn't hear Kato.

 _He's old enough to be my grandpa. How the hell is he this quiet?_ Matt thought.

Something prodded Matt's chest, prompting him to cautiously reach out in front of him. Matt touched Kato's face and he jumped back in shock.

"How long were you standing there?" Matt asked.

"About a minute," Kato said.

 _He was in front of me for an entire minute. How the hell didn't I notice him?_

Kato smirked. He had always been able to read Matt like a book.

"I assume you're wondering how I did that?"

Matt nodded.

"Suppressing heartbeats and lowering your breath can only help someone temporarily evade our senses. Those skills alone won't render them invisible to those like us.

"So how did I hide my presence then?" Kato asked.

Matt shrugged. "I have no idea."

Kato gestured all around him. "Sounds. Smells. Radiation. Touch. Temperature. Balance and dozens of other senses. They can only help us understand the physical world. But, you can never truly be aware of your surroundings till you learn how to perceive the very essence of life. _Chi_."

Matt instantly felt dejected after hearing that. "That's how Davos powers his fist right?"

Kato nodded.

"Chi flows through all of us. Iron Fist's can channel that power directly but most can't. Even then simply allowing it to flow through your body and being aware of it can greatly enhance you. It can make you stronger. More focused and make you fight at your very best even in the direst of situations," Kato said, feeling like he answered Matt's question satisfactorily.

"So it's like the Force?" Matt asked childishly.

Kato smacked himself in the forehead. "Thousands of years of Eastern culture and wisdom and you compare it to a sci-fi film?"

"What? It's not the worst comparison."

Kato let out an irritated sigh. "This is going to be much more difficult than I originally anticipated."

"So that's how the Hand keep evading my senses. With chi?" Matt asked, ignoring his master's previous statement.

Kato nodded. "The healing meditation I taught you also utilise the chi surrounding you. It acts as a stepping stone for understanding the mechanisms behind the training."

Matt cracked his knuckles eagerly, "Alright. Let's do this. I don't care if the training kills me. I wanna learn."

No words emerged from Kato's mouth. He turned his back against Matt, confusing the teenager.

"You truly learned nothing, you imbecile. You have till the morning to figure out why that is," Kato scolded. "If you can't. Then you'll never finish your training."

Matt stood there for hours after Kato retreated to his hut. The idea of him not being ready to learn how to use chi seemed crazy. Kato had put him through hellish training since he was seven. He'd been through things that would make grown men cry and Kato chose to slam the breaks on Matt's training now?

It was absurd.

* * *

Kato sat on his knees, enjoying a bowl of ramen he had prepared for himself. He was part Chinese and Japanese. A duality he had struggled to come to terms with during his youth.

Now he embraced both cultures without any worry.

He took a sip of sake and turned his head, hearing the sound of wood cracking due to heat. Matt had started a small campfire outside and began to roast a few fish he had caught that evening.

Kato felt like he should ask him to come inside and enjoy the meal he had prepared. He strangled that paternal urge and threw it out of his system.

Matt needed to figure this out on his own. Because if he didn't, Kato would have to bury what was left of the boy's body.

* * *

A wild rooster hollered, disturbing the calm, morning air. Kato exited his hut, carrying a sword at his side.

Matt was standing right outside the entrance, awaiting his master. His skin was sore and pale after days of being compressed by bandages but at least he was healed up.

Kato's eyes had bags under them and his hair was dishevelled. He did not get a wink of sleep last night.

"Did you figure out why you're not ready?" Kato asked Matt point-blank.

Matt lowered his head in shame. "No."

Kato scoffed. "You've fought so many these past few years. Mobsters, assassins, metahumans. But there has always been one opponent you could never best. Someone who always gets the better of you."

Matt wondered who Kato was talking about.

"The Devil inside of you. That rage that makes you sacrifice your body to win the fight. Until you overcome that you will never be able to complete your skills," Kato lectured.

Matt heard the metal of Kato's sword slide out of its sheath. He could feel the hairs on his arms rise as Kato swung the sword in the air.

Leaves and dust pelted his face thanks to the force of that swing. Matt could feel his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He had never seen Kato like this. He could feel an aura of pressure around him, unlike anything he'd experienced before.

This wasn't Kato the teacher.

But Kato the warrior. A man who wouldn't hesitate to cut you down.

Thin slices of hair fell in front of Matt's face as Kato tried to slice off the top of his head. Matt felt a drop of blood trickling down his temple and that terrified him.

 _He's actually trying to kill me,_ Matt thought.

Kato could practically taste Matt's fear. His young heart was racing and the adrenaline was surging through his system.

Matt leapt back and picked up a wooden practice sword and swung it at Kato's feet. Kato calmly stepped to the side and swung his sword at Matt's shoulder.

The young fighter raised his sword to block but Kato's weapon sliced through the wood like butter. He cut Matt in the shoulder, making the teenager angry.

"What's the matter, boy? Let out your aggression. Show me the monster that made Bullseye take his life."

Matt let out a primaeval scream and charged at Kato, who reversed the grip of the sword. He swung wildly at Kato, who parried and ducked underneath all of his punches like water through a sieve. This made Matt attack even more aggressively, he had never seen Kato move so quickly.

Kato swiped his blade below Matt's knee and at his chest in the blink of an eye, cutting him both times. Matt let his rage drown out the pain and he kept charging forward. Kato didn't even bother to use his sword and kicked Matt in the chin.

Matt's shot back and his assault ended abruptly. Kato headbutted Matt and he fell on his back, his nose broken and bloodied, making the simple act of breathing laborious.

Kato thrust his sword down towards Matt's chest but Matt grabbed some sand and threw it Kato's eyes, angering the older fighter.

He heard Matt disturbing the ground below him as he ran into the woods. Kato casually followed after him, after rubbing out the sand that was stinging his eyes.

Matt slapped himself in the face. _Calm down. Calm down,_ he repeated mentally as he rushed past scores of trees. Any anger he felt towards Kato turned to fear. His only goal now was to survive long enough to escape the island.

He stabilized his breathing and felt his heart rate lower. Matt slithered up a tree and hid within its branches. Matt tore his shirt up to bandage his wounds.

Right now, a pin drop would make more noise than he did. Matt waited patiently, looking out for any signs of his master.

Kato finally caught up to where Matt's footsteps ended and let out a frustrated sigh. He pulled out a shuriken from his pocket and threw it upwards towards the treetops.

Branches broke as Matt leapt off of his tree to avoid the shuriken piercing his stomach. Matt managed to grasp onto a branch of another tree and was narrowly hanging on to it. Matt's fingers began to slip off of the tree and Kato wound his leg back and slammed his foot against the tree bark, shaking it to the core.

Matt lost his grip immediately and plummeted downwards. He rolled himself into a ball before hitting the ground and loosened his body after impact to try and minimize the damage.

But a fall from a tree isn't something you can shrug off.

Matt tasted the dirt beneath him. The sound of leaves crumbling entered his ears as Kato walked towards him, sword in hand.

Matt could taste the blood in his mouth. He chuckled and spat out as much of it as he could. Though it did not matter since he was bleeding out from his other wounds.

 _I kind of lost count how often I find myself in this position. Bleeding out, face planted firmly in the ground,_ Matt thought. Many times he felt like he should give up and let whatever it was that was about to kill him finish the job.

He was always tired. Weak. Barely clinging onto life.

 _Dying always seemed like the easier option,_ Matt thought.

But something always caught his attention and gave him the urge to fight again. There was always someone else in danger. A loved one urging him on. Someone that made him want to get back up.

Today, however. Matt felt hollow.

There was no one left.

No one to save.

No one left to fight for.

It was just him and his mentor. A man whom he trusted and cared for.

A man who now held a sword over his head.

As Kato raised his blade over Matt's motionless body, about to deliver the final blow Nobu's words echoed in Matt's mind.

'I wonder. Are you acting as a vigilante to save lives or is it a way to find an honourable death?'

 _Death?_ Matt thought.

His body quivered like the leaves below him at the mere thought.

 _I don't want to die,_ Matt thought meekly as Kato sliced downwards.

Matt grabbed the blade with his bare hands with a motion so quick that the metal of the sword began to quiver. Matt shot up and struck Kato in the wrist, making the older man cry out and drop his weapon.

Kato felt Matt's foot slammed into his chest and he was hurled back several feet before he could stop himself.

"I am not going to die!" Matt proclaimed at the top of his lungs, tossing the sword aside.

By the time he finished that sentence, he was completely out of breath. But Matt didn't care about that.

The fact that he was breathing felt miraculous to him at that moment. It was like he was born again and every sensation felt new and fresh.

He was bleeding. He was angry and in pain. He was exhausted and it felt amazing.

Kato was stunned by his student. "Well that was quick," he said, still in shock.

"Huh?"

Kato rubbed his chest, feeling the impression of Matt's foot in his skin. "I thought I would have to chop off an arm or a leg. At least a finger but you surprised me," he said in a friendly tone.

"Wait, wait, wait. So you weren't trying to kill me?" Matt asked.

"No. Cripple or maim perhaps. But I'd only have killed you if you hadn't learned your lesson."

Matt gave Kato a puzzled look. "What lesson?"

"You once told me that you did not mind dying just as long as you saved lives doing so. How many fights have you had where you took far too much damage than was necessary, all because you didn't value your own life?" Kato asked rhetorically.

"Your family, the girl you loved and innocent people have died. Some thanks to your actions or because of some damned bad luck. And after facing tragedy after tragedy, you convinced yourself that your life was worth less than others. That you deserved to be in pain and to suffer.

"To use one's chi is to tap into the power of life. How could I possibly teach you that if you did not want to live your own?"

Matt stood in front of his mentor, with a mixed bag of emotions.

"That's why you attacked me? Brought me to an island. So I'd be scared shitless and find the will to live?" Matt asked.

Kato nodded.

"That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard!" Matt cried out.

"It worked."

"Yeah, barely. Couldn't you have just sent me to therapy or something?"

"Not fast enough," Kato stated.

Matt slapped himself on the forehead. He had the urge to strangle Kato right now but chose not to. Instead, he smiled.

His pain did not go away. Mark's death was still fresh on his mind and he couldn't help but feel sad thinking about him.

But his sadness no longer overwhelmed him.

He wanted to live. To move on.

Not for his brother but for himself.

Kato wrapped his arm around Matt's shoulder. "Your wounds need tending to. Come, we train in the morning."

* * *

"You broke my sword?" Kato asked incredulously.

"Not my fault. Nobu sliced it in half," Matt spat out in response.

Kato got up and was visibly saddened by that information.

"That sword was passed down to me by my father. Who received it from his father. And his father before him," Kato said.

"Kato, I'm sorry I - "

"Don't be. My father was an arrogant ass. Besides, I have a much better weapon to give you," Kato said. He pried open some floorboards of the hut and took out a large bundle of cloth.

Matt traced his fingers over the cloth and felt multiple layers of ornate stitching. No doubt it must have looked beautiful. Not that mattered to either of them.

Kato unwrapped the cloth and threw it unceremoniously on the ground. He held the weapon with one hand and Matt grasped it.

He noticed that the weapon was a broad sword instead of a katana. Matt unsheathed the sword and inspected the weapon.

The blade was old and had wave-like patterns flowing along the length of the blade. The hilt was unremarkable. No ornamentation or special features of any kind.

Matt felt disappointed. "What's so special about this?"

"That is the sword of Azrael. It's said that if the user has enough willpower it will - "

At the moment a powerful blue flame engulfed the sword and imbued it with great mystic power.

"Yes. That," Kato said.

Matt let go of the sword and sheathed it.

"I'll need to practice with that thing."

"All in good time. With regards to your training. I can't teach you to master the usage of chi but I can at least teach you how to detect the Hand. That will serve us well in the war."

"We never really got to that part," Matt said.

Kato stood up. "In two weeks time, the Chaste will mount an assault on the Hand's headquarters in New York. If we were to do so now the Hand would pack up and leave but if we attack during the ritual to resurrect Trigon. They have no choice but to fight us," Kato said.

"And how exactly are we gonna get Trigon out of El's body?"

Kato tapped Azrael's sword.

"We destroy the vessel."

* * *

 **Yay! A positive chapter that doesn't leave Matt emotionally crippled. I bet you guys thought I didn't have it in me.**

 **Well, I mean I originally planned on Matt losing an arm but I thought that was too edgy and dumb so I guess even I have my limits for how much I want to brutalise this kid.**

 **It'll be a while till the next chapter comes out since I've got exams and stuff so you can probably expect it to come late November or early December.**

 **Anyways, responding to comments that I can't DM for whatever reason:**

 **TheKike: NO, no, why? WHY? Why do you like to see Matt suffer, you've already taken everything he loved, but at least something small and good will come out of that, the team's battle against the hand was Well, it was what I imagined, they were no match for trained assassins, but he waited for the rematch in the future, Matt can no longer be alone and needs his friends with him, when he is equipped again, is Artemis interested in a certain way? Demon boy, why maybe you feel identified with him, maybe. Keep going**

 **Me: Losing people he cares about is kind of a Daredevil speciality. But I guess I might have went a bit overboard with the killing. I'd like to talk more but that will spoil things.**

 **We're in the endgame now guys.**

 **I'll see you later.**


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